


The Chaos Effect

by Muddypaws375



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Brief Izaya/Mikado, Eventual Torture, F/M, Fluff, Humour, Hurt, Injury, Izaya getting into shit, M/M, Mostly Shizaya, On hold for an undetermined amount of time., Realization of inner feelings, Tormenting Mikado, Twins mostly mentioned, Twins seen once or twice, and paying for it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-05-08 07:31:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5488847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muddypaws375/pseuds/Muddypaws375
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Izaya Orihara was known for getting into shit that he really shouldn't. Hell, one would think after getting stabbed on the street, he'd learn his lesson. Unfortunately, he didn't. Battered, annoying and bored, Izaya slowly recovers from his recent fuck up. However, it soon turns out that it's not over from there. </p><p>An angry clan, a painful device and several confusing emotions cause Izaya to really wonder exactly what he's gotten into this time, and how on earth he can get out. He's dragging everyone down with him this time, and for once in his life, he's very close to regretting it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tiny, Broken Cog In a Giant Machine

**Author's Note:**

> First Drrr!! Fanfic. A little nervous about how this one will go. This first part is kind of short and I'm sorry. But I hope you enjoy the story that will hopefully be as good as I intend it to!

A ticking clock is the most annoying sound in the universe, Izaya has decided. Simply because he can't fucking hear anything else in this quiet-ass apartment.

Well, it's not the only thing. Occasional noises can be heard in a corner where his host is currently sleeping. The poor kid looks exhausted, though Izaya really doesn't know or remember why. Which is an oddity to him, simply because he basically knows _everything_.

Izaya Orihara is an Information Broker. He _loves_ to observe humans, interfere with their lives and their plans and generally make people feel terrible. Except, the last one was more of an occasional hobby. In all honesty, he loves humans. Every single one of them. Well, except Shizuo Heiwajima, a tall, blonde haired male who had the unnatural ability to be able to lift heavy objects like vending machines, cars, sign posts, anything that would make a difference in the fight. That's why he doesn't like Shizuo. He can ruin his perfect plans with his dumb strength and inability to control it. 

By all means, Shizuo is a creature, vermin, a _monster._  But Izaya, for some reason, loves him for that, too. Not _love_ love. He just loves to watch him. He loves to watch everyone. To remove himself from his surroundings and observe. And perhaps he's observed a bit too much this time.

From what he can tell, either by the burning pain all over his body or the fact that he can barely move, he's gotten into some tough shit. Maybe another fight with Shizuo, only this time he wasn't fast enough to get away? God, this isn't helping. His forehead is throbbing and thinking is only making it worse. He hesitates before attempting to sit up, pain exploding in his left rib cage. The feeling causes him to give a hurt yelp before he dropped back down, his head hitting the floor hard. "Fuck!" He shouts loudly, severely tempted to curl up so tight that he'll deprive himself of oxygen and die. 

The act causes his host to sit up, glancing about madly before his eyes settle upon the Information Broker. He quickly moves over to Izaya, concerned eyes glancing all over the male. "O-Orihara! What's wrong, are you alright?" He asks in that concerned tone of is. How very misleading. 

"I'm fine," He opens his brown, almost ruby eyes to look at the younger boy, it taking him a few minutes before the familiar face clicks in his mind, a small smile curling on the corners of his mouth.

" _Mikado Ryuugamine_." Now, this kid was very interesting. very interesting indeed. From one look at him, you'd think 'Hah, what a pathetic little guy.' You'd think that if you'd flick him in the nose, he'd run away crying for his mom. But with Mikado Ryuugamine, that is absolutely not the case. 

Mikado happens to be one of the founders of The Dollars, a colorless color gang that is considered one of the largest in Ikebukuro. For a long while, Mikado had kept his affiliation with the group a secret from many people, such as his close friends Masaomi Kida or Anri Sonohara. It was when a near war broke out with The Dollars and another group, The Yellow Scarves, a gang Masaomi was actually the leader of for quite some time, that his secret was revealed. Ever since then, Mikado seemed to be motioning for The Dollars to grow in a certain way they weren't meant to. And, of course, this intrigued Izaya _very_ much. He loved to watch Mikado, for the young boy was actually incredibly dangerous as well as dark and twisted. Something the two of them shared in few numbers.

Mikado gives a sigh of relief, even a smile before sitting back beside Izaya, a hand moving to run through his short, black hair. "Gosh, I was afraid you weren't going to wake up... It's a good thing you at least have your memory in tact." 

"Not exactly, Mikado-chan." Izaya said, attempting to again sit up. Thankfully, Mikado scrambled over to help him, keeping him steady as he propped up a few pillows that were laying to the side, probably in case Izaya woke up and wanted to move like now. Giving the younger boy a smile and a brief 'thanks', he cleared his throat a bit. "I don't exactly know why I'm here. Would you mind elaborating?" 

Mikado seemed taken aback. "Really, you don't remember? Dang, I was hoping you did..."

"Remember what?" Izaya in inquired, his face suddenly loosing it's usual smile. 

"That's just it, I don't even know what happened to you," Izaya seemed surprised, Mikado just giving a disheartened sigh.

"I was walking home from school like usual. I said goodbye to Anri like I always do and I started my walk home. Except I decided to take another route, just to see how much longer it took me to get home. I didn't see anything important, nothing that was disturbing or anything. A few shady looking guys but that was about it. I started thinking about why I even went that way and that's when I saw the blood on the ground. It kinda formed foot prints and it was coming from the street further ahead of me. I followed the foot steps and at the end of a dark alley, I saw you. You were laying on top of a box or something and there was a lot of blood... I couldn't think of what to do. Before I really realized what I was doing, I called Celty for help."

Celty Sturluson. The Dullahan from ages long past. She came to the city searching for her missing head a long time ago. She had met a doctor and his son, Shinra Kishitani when Shinra was just a boy. Shinra took to her very quickly as he became an underground doctor, eventually falling deeply in love with her ( Izaya found him a pervert for that ). From then on, she lived with Shinra, watching him grow as she went from Dullahan to transporter, moving things where they needed to be. Izaya often called her to transport things for her and often found it amusing when she got closer and closer to figuring out his secret.

The secret that he actually had her missing head with him for a very long time now.

"She helped me get you on her bike and took you and I here per Shinra's request. Apparently, he didn't want the chance of whoever attacked you knowing where he lives. Said if they did, they might come to his house to finish the job. Shinra was waiting for us when we got here and he patched you up just before you died, though you were really close to it." Izaya didn't doubt it. From how weak he felt to how bad he hurt mostly around his abdomen, he probably would have very easily died if Mikado hadn't found him. How funny.

"Well, Mikado-chan, I suppose I owe you a 'thank you' for saving my life. You certainly find chivalry in the littlest things." 

"Oh, it's nothing Orihara-san... Really, I... I was just doing as best as I could." Mikado said, his blue-ish-gray eyes glancing away in embarrassment as his cheeks lit up a crimson color.  

"Please, call me 'Izaya,'" Izaya gave a kind smile and a laugh before he looked about, eyes falling upon Mikado's laptop which was currently open. He squinted as his eyes attempted to focus on the date and time. Unfortunately, he was not a cat and could not see that far. "Tell me, Mikado-chan, what day is it?"

Mikado glanced over at his laptop, silent for a moment. "Uuhhh... November third, Izaya. Why?" 

 _November third?_ No. It couldn't be. Maybe the date was off on Mikado's laptop? "I'm sorry, Mikado-chan, 'November third'?" He inquired, trying to force a smile. 

"Uh, yea... You were out cold for a while..." 

"How long?" 

"Hmmm... Almost a week. I think exactly a week, actually. Let me see..." He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his call log before finding exactly what he needed. "Yea. I found you a found you a week ago." 

A week? A whole entire week of absolutely nothing? How... Odd. Yes, he was hurt, but enough to be unconscious for an entire week? That seemed a little bit of an over kill. He was about to ask if Mikado was being an idiot or something before he saw Mikado glancing from his phone, his watch and Izaya and back and forth between the two. He thinks he heard Mikado mutter 'Eight thirty-three...' but he isn't sure. 

"What's wrong, Mikado-chan?" Izaya asks, watching as Mikado suddenly stands, quickly going towards the farthest wall to grab a trashcan and bring it over, setting it close to Izaya. The act makes Izaya actually feel wary, as he stares at the trashcan for a few seconds before glancing back at Mikado. 

"I-I'm just preparing... Just in case..." 

"Just in case _what?_ " Mikado hesitates. 

"Well... Every single day, ever since I found you--Eight thirty-four-- you've been absolutely silent. Except... when it reaches Eight thirty-five, you just suddenly sit up and--"he stops, staring at his clock before glancing up at Izaya. The Information broker looks very confused, wondering if maybe Mikado has gone absolutely mad. 

Then, he feels it. 

It's painful. Excruciating. The worst thing he's ever felt in his entire life as it, what ever it is, seemingly tears through his stomach. He gasps as pain spreads all over his body, his thin frame shuddering violently as he feels drool pool inside his mouth as well as something else that's very coppery. He manages a few strangled screams before quickly gripping the trashcan, bringing it close to himself as he vomits whatever happens to be crawling up his throat. It's a mixture of stomach acid, water and blood and it's absolutely horrible. As he expels whatever is left in him, he feels pained shouts soaring out of his mouth in between each painful wave. He can't even feel Mikado's hand rubbing up and down his back as he tries desperately to comfort him, his free hand dialing a number on his phone as swift as lightening before he brings the device to his ear. Mikado is shaking, too.

He feels tears running down his face as he gasps for air, only choking on the vile liquids coming out of his throat. He coughs and sputters, attempting to catch his breath as he finds a moment of peace, a moment of freedom from seemingly hours of non-stop vomiting, though it's maybe only been three minutes. But the pain doesn't stop. In fact, it gets worse. But there's absolutely nothing left to heave up, not even blood. In stead he just holds his stomach, gasping, wheezing and screaming in absolute agony as Mikado finally gets through to who he's been calling. 

"H-hello, Sh-Sh-Shinra?! Y-yes, it's Mikado-- Yes, that's Izaya screaming-- Please, send Celty, send an ambulance, send anyone! Izaya needs help right now!!"

Then it's over as quickly as it started. The pain is gone and Izaya is left feeling exhausted. So much so that his shaky body collapses back onto his makeshift bed as he pants heavily, vision going in and out of focus as darkness slowly begins eating away at the edges of his sight. He can barely hear Mikado, he sounds far away as he speaks. He can't tell exactly what he's saying anymore or remember who he's talking to, but he sounds desperate. 

Izaya slips back into unconsciousness as soon as he shuts his eyes, his aches and pains disappearing without a trace as Mikado suddenly panics, shaking Izaya harshly as his grip on his phone loosens and the device hits the floor with a thud. 

"Mikado?! Mikado, whats happening?!? Mikado?!?!" 

 

 

\------- _The Streets of Ikebukuro, 8:40 pm_ \-------- 

 

 

 **'You have to listen to me! I know you hate him but he's in big trouble, I can feel it!!'** She types in a hasty movement before flashing the screen of her phone in front of the tall man's face, the luminescent glow of her device flashing on his blue sunglasses. He scoffs, taking a long draw of his cigarette before huffing out a cloud of deadly chemicals into the air, his expression merely hardening. 

"And you listen to me; I don't care what trouble he's in. I hope he dies in whatever pit he fell into." 

 **'Uhg! You're being so unreasonable!! There's a whole lot of trouble coming, I know it, I can feel in in my heart...!'** She types with a deep set frustration that Shizuo knows, but barely. He's very tempted to say something like 'but you don't have a heart' or 'your heart isn't beating' but he knows better than to do so. Even so, this conversation is irritating him to no end. He makes his clear by taking his cigarette from his mouth, snapping it in two and tossing it on the ground, aggressively rubbing the bottom of his shoe against it. 

"Celty, you're a good friend and I trust you. I do. But I swear, if you keep talking about that flea, I'll break your helmet. I'm not helping. I don't care about him. I don't care about whatever feeling you have because it's probably nothing. Just leave me be. I don't wanna speak to you again for a while unless you tell me that the Flea is dead, you hear me?!" He starts shouting near the end which visibly makes Celty take a step back. She's obviously heart broken, hurt and above all, kind of let down. But she should know better. 

Celty lowers her 'head', typing slowly, her speed quickly picking up as her shoulders raise in sudden anger. She doesn't look up as she thrusts her phone screen violently into Shizuo's face, the body guard having to move his head backwards to read it correctly.  **'Fine. Don't listen to me. Keep your petty grudge. I don't care. Go back to being the stubborn ass you are and forget I even came here.'** She brings her phone back, typing against before showing the screen again.

 **'In fact, forget I even bothered to care at all.'** Ouch. 

She turns around, stomping over to her black bike, Shooter, and climbing onto it, not even giving Shizuo a second glance as she zooms off, a horse bray sounding from her almost soundless bike. Shizuo gives a sigh, pushing up his glasses before turning to walk down the street, a pang of guilt filling his heart. She didn't mean it and he knew that. She's just angry. That's all. Once she remembers how much he and Izaya hate each other, she'll come crawling back with an apology of some sort. And hell, he'll apologize, too. He doesn't like raising his voice at her like that. Not at any woman for that matter. 

As he wanders down the streets, people passing by, some whispering about him, others not even giving him a glance, he begins to wonder exactly what the Flea did to get hurt so bad. He'd been thinking about it for a while, actually. Ever since Celty told him how that Mikado Ryuugamine kid called her, saying Izaya was dying or something like that. He mostly wondered why anyone gave two shits about that asshole. He's an unforgivable freak who deserved to die a long time ago. He has no idea how someone like Shinra can possibly be friends with a creature like that. 

Then again, for some reason, as much as Shizuo wants to kill Izaya and as many times he's had the opportunity to do so, his body seems to slow him down on purpose, as if he actually doesn't want to squash a disgusting bug like that. _Fuck you_ , he usually says to his body for being such a damn coward. That or _why not_. Then again, he's never understood his body. It's always acted out on it's own. He remembers the first time it did, when his little brother, Kasuka, ate his yogurt that he specifically _wrote on the cup itself ' Mine. Don't eat - Shizuo.' _In retaliation, he tried to throw a fridge at his brother. And he broke his arm. In fact, every single time Shizuo's body acted out, he broke bones all the time. It was until he finally talked to Shinra and a nice woman told him to drink milk that he actually started paying attention to his body and focused on letting it get stronger. And, holy hell, did it. 

So why now, out of every time he's acted out, does his body refrain from killing someone who's been getting on his nerves for so long? 

_Why not do it now?_

Yes... Yes! Yes, of course!! Izaya was weak and open! He couldn't run away now, absolutely not!! Breaking into a sprint, he began dashing towards the direction of Shinra's house, a sick grin easing onto his face the closer he got. This was his time now. To become something more. A murderer by some accounts, but more. a hero to Ikebukuro. To free this corrupt town from an even more corrupt piece of shit?

It would be a _mercy killing_. 

 

 

\-----At a Stoplight in Ikebukuro, 9:03 pm-----

 

**What a jackass. And idiot. A selfish bastard. He really had no idea, but I do. I know there's danger. It make's my spine freeze whenever I think about it and it make my stomach do flip-flops.**

The light turns green. She starts to move again.

**Shinra knows. Shinra knows exactly what I'm talking about. Shinra's a genius and he'll know how to fix everything. To make everything right.**

She goes around a corner and Shooter seems to coo with joy at going so fast. 

 **It hasn't been the same since Izaya got hurt. People are acting weird. Waiting for something to happen. Without Izaya making things happen, everyone's upset, unsettled, unnatural. A town that's so used to chaos is finding it hard to live without that very sense of chaos. It's twisted. It's dark, it's not normal for a town. But this isn't exactly a normal town.**

She speeds past some teenagers who gasp in awe of her, like everyone always does. 

**I've seen monster's in police forces. I've seen high school students go from careless boys to ruthless gang leaders. I've seen young girls force people to do her will through the blade of a spirit sword. I've seen a girl wearing my own face. I've seen gang wars, serial killers, famous people.I've seen a man pick up and hurl vending machines with ease, as if he's throwing a pebble. And I've seen, not directly, but I've seen a young man completely tear organizations apart, ruin lives, changes lives for the better, use everyone as pawns in this giant chessboard of a town.**

She enters an empty freeway, the light of the moon and street lights her only sense of light in this dark, desolate road. Shooter gives another pleasured noise, as if he remembers the old days of empty trails, mountains ranges, beautiful forests. He wishes his master were thinking of what he was thinking. 

**I've seen so many things, is absolutely unreasonable, if not irresponsible to call this town 'normal.' And it's all because of him. Izaya Orihara.**

She slows to a stop in the center of the highway, her gaze moving to look over the lights of the city. Time seems to have stopped for her. She's alone and it sparks up memories that Shooter gladly reminisces over alongside her. 

 **No one knows it but me. Maybe Shinra, maybe even Mikado, as clever as that boy is. Izaya himself doesn't even know it. No one else knows how important Izaya is to this city. He's the blood that flows through everyone's veins. He feeds this starving city, it's citizens starving minds. He's what keeps people wondering what might be happening out in the world, what might go one today, what will happen tomorrow. His work ethic is the embodiment of the excitement, the wonder, the wandering minds of this fair city.** **And if he were to die... It would all crumble apart.**

**Hell, it's falling down as he lay's in bed right now. Certainly, things would still go on. But it would be repetitive. Nothing would have it's mysterious glow about it. Everyone would brush everything off, saying 'this is what happens everyday.' There would be nothing left of the city that has come to be Ikebukuro. And that would cause everyone to change.**

Far away, Shizuo is still dashing, nearly knocking people over, not bothering to say 'sorry.' He's on a mission. A deadly one. 

**His life would change, in fact, it already is.**

In a far away town, Masaomi Kida tiredly types on his computer, quite aimlessly. Something is wrong and he feels it in his chest. He doesn't like it. He's tried to call Mikado several times to make sure everything is ok. Hell, he even tried that no-good IZaya. But his phone is absolutely silent. 

"Saki..." He says silently, earning himself a glance from his beautiful girlfriend, Saki Mikajima the one he left Ikebukuro for, the one he cherishes with all his heart.

"Yea, Masaomi?" 

 Masaomi turns to look at her, his dyed, blonde hair covering up his eyes a bit. "I... I need to go to Ikebukuro. Something is very wrong and I... I just have a bad feeling. I need to go." 

Saki simply smiles, giving a giggle. "You're always so worried. Just be careful." And Masaomi smiles back. 

**Their lives are already changing, too.**

In the outer-ish parts of Ikebukuro, a large chested female sits on her phone as she types in The Dollars chat room. She wonders where everyone is and why no one has been on for a while. Worry fills her eyes and as she pushes up her glasses, she begins to wonder exactly what's happening. 

 **Even her.**  

Elsewhere, two twins, girls, both excitedly watch Yuhei Hanejima's newest movie, _'The Dreams of A Neko.'_  The quieter of the two seems less excited and, in irritation of her sister wallowing all over her, gives her a harsh pinch on her arm which causes her sister to yelp and complain. 

**Their lives would definitely change.**

 

**No one would wonder. No one would think 'today has been an interesting day.'** **It would all disappear. Because this city is so numb to chaos, it's all people expect anymore.**

 

There's a buzzing in her sleeve, which causes her to pull out her phone and glance at the familiar contact. Shinra. The presses 'answer' and raises it up to her 'ear.'

"Celty! I know that we thought it would be safer to leave Izaya at Mikado's but this is getting serious!!" He sounded really concerned and by the jangling of many things and the rolling of a possible IV stand, it's much more serious than Shinra is insinuating. Celty tried to answer in a quiet manner she always does and luckily, Shinra can almost read her mind. 

"Mikado just called me saying that Izaya had a sudden attack of some sort. Said that he was fine until it hit a certain time and he suddenly started screaming and puking up blood. I need you to go get them both, I think Izaya has internal damage that I missed! And hurry!!" She didn't need to be told twice. She hung up, patting Shooter before giving a U turn, speeding back towards the city, towards Mikado's house.

She knew it. It was already getting bad and she knew it.  


	2. No Pain, No Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years!  
> Sorry for it being rushed near the end and typos I was a little bit buzzed when I wrote it. ~Muddy

~~~~_**[Durarara!! OST - The Girl in The Drawing]** _

 

 

Shinra sighs as he exits the guest room of his apartment, his eyes tired behind his glasses. As he sits on his couch, actually, he rather collapses on it, he gives a larger, more exhausted sigh. Opening his eyes, he glances at the clock. Twelve-ten. He’s been at it for at least three hours. Been at what? Searching. Searching for what, he had no idea. But dammit, he’s been looking.

Mikado Ryuugamine called three hours ago and gave a story that Shinra really didn’t understand. But it was worrying. According to Mikado, ever since Izaya was rescued from dying in an alley, he reported something strange happening every single night at exactly Eight thirty-five. Izaya would awaken with a literal shriek, his body convulsing before he would violently vomit on the floor (That only happened the first few nights, Mikado was armed with a trashcan ever since), his vomit mostly containing acid and blood. When he had nothing left to puke up, he’d writhe in agony, screaming for at least five or ten minutes before it would finally stop and Izaya would fall unconscious again. At first, the Dollars leader thought it would stop. Maybe it was a recurring nightmare. Maybe a stomach bug. But as the same event stretched onto a fourth night, Mikado doubted it was anything like that. When Izaya finally awoke, he felt relieved. Maybe the terrifying event would cease.

Unfortunately, it didn’t.

That’s what caused Mikado to call Shinra. This wasn’t healthy, wasn’t normal, wasn’t human. It was concerning. And god, Mikado couldn’t stand to watch someone suffer like that. not even someone like Izaya. So, when Celty carried Izaya’s corpse-like body into the apartment and Shinra asked her to put Izaya in the spare room so he could conduct a proper investigation of his insides, Shinra found nothing. And he looked relentlessly for hours. Mostly around the abdominal area. He was suspicious of it for a while, as he saw a puncture that was similar to one given from a very blunt needle. He looked near there and, unfortunately, he found absolutely nothing. Not with x-rays, not with the ultrasound machine. He couldn’t find anything.

That’s what really pissed off Shinra. Even blood tests came back as clear, every single thing he tried just ended in a dead end. And it was so frustrating. That he couldn’t help. That he could do nothing but sit there and watch his friend just lay there, suffering. It was painful. However, he couldn't even imagine what his old friend was feeling. Whatever was happening must have been absolutely unbearable, as he was apparently still so sore around that mysterious puncture mark. Shinra only knew that because upon preforming an ultrasound to find what was causing all of this, he had to place the ultrasound stick near that puncture. Izaya only responding with sincere and pained whines and groans. Hearing those noises coming from someone with such an 'I don't give a fuck' attitude just wasn't correct. 

For now, there was nothing he could do. He could think about it all he wanted, and he wold. but probably not right now. Honestly, Izaya wasn't the only person he was dealing with here. 

Mikado was still here, of course. It was already late and the poor kid was tired so Shinra gave him a pillow and blanket and let him sleep on one of his couches, the boy still asleep now. Shinra could live with Mikado being here, absolutely, he was just a high school-er. What he was having problems with was Shizuo Heiwajima. The guy smashed his way into Shinra and Celty's apartment in a fury, demanding to see Izaya and for a reason Izaya had a pretty bad feeling about. It took a while, a lot longer than it should have at least, to calm the tall, blonde haired male down enough for him to listen. Celty handled it for the most part. She was apparently angry at Shizuo for something and whatever she rapidly stabbed into her phone to show Shizuo made him diffuse within seconds and even go silent as Shinra did his best to explain the situation. Shinra couldn't stop Shizuo from trying to hurt Izaya, he knew that. But his way of proving his point after making it was something that should definitely be cherished.  So, in that final dismount off the crazy horse of a situation, Shinra _finally_ convinced Shizuo to leave Izaya alone under certain circumstances that Shizuo really couldn't help but agree with. 

_"Izaya is not to be touched in any violent manner until he is well enough to fend for himself."_

_"But what if he tries something?"_

_"Then I'll subdue him. He can't due much now, and when he's all healed, you can at least call it 'self-defense' if you kill him."_

_"Fine. Fucking fine. I'll play your game, Shinra. But I'm not leaving."_

_"What? Why?"_

_Shizuo glared into Izaya's 'room', brown eyes seemingly digging holes into the unconscious males forehead as his voice got husky and harsh, though it wasn't much different than how he normally spoke. "He's done something. He did this to himself and I promise you it was all apart of his plan. He'll get up and leave one day, laughing. But he won't laugh for long. Cus I'll snap his skinny fucking neck. Then we'll see who's laughing then."_

Shinra had an argument sitting on his tongue for the entirety of Shizuo's monologue but he chose to swallow his words. By then, he was already getting irritated as he should have been checking on Izaya by then. Then again, even his searching now didn't do any good. Maybe he just didn't want to argue because half of the time, that was all Shizuo knew how to do. And it was so frustrating at times. 

Was Shizuo still there? Absolutely. He was currently sitting on the floor, propped up against the large windows that looked over the city. In all honesty, he looked exhausted. Shinra guessed he hadn't been sleeping that much, simply because the blonde would stare into Izaya's room, making absolutely sure the Flea didn't suddenly jump up and make a run for it while laughing hysterically. However, as he stared, his eyelids continued to get lower and lower with every minute that passed until his eyes were completely shut. Shizuo would hang his head by then and give a few quiet snores before he jolted awake, glaring back into Izaya's room as if he were startled by a non-existent noise. Then, the cycle would repeat. Over and over and over, as it had for three hours. 

Well, except for now. 

It seemed the blonde had finally succumbed to sleep, whether by exhaustion or the rhythmic beeping on the heart monitor in the room vertical to the insanely strong man, as his head had dropped almost ten minutes ago and he only moved with his breath. Shinra wanted to honestly wake him, let him get into a more comfortable position and maybe lay on a pillow. But, Shinra liked his head on his shoulders and would much rather be the one with the head in his and Celty's relationship. Besides, Shizuo would probably just stay awake a few more hours until sunrise when he would most likely drink gallons upon gallons of coffee. 

It's twelve twenty by now and as much as Shinra would like to keep and eye on Izaya, he's exhausted. So, reluctantly, he heads into his bedroom, curling up in his bed next to Celty who had passed out a long while ago. 

As long as Shizuo stays asleep, he himself might actually get a few winks in. 

 

\-------- _The Next Morning, 7:26_ \---------

 

 Izaya has found a brand new annoying sound. Apparently, a heart monitor was like a clock. Just higher pitched and insufferable. 

 

At least he knows where he is this time. He's seen the inside of Shinra's 'surgery room' enough to know it by simple sight and sound. He doesn't know _how or why_ he's here, though, and that kind of bugs him. He'd much rather be home in his own bed, in his own, quiet room, in his own, quiet apartment. It's too noisy here, what with the beeping, the IV drips and the sound of chatter coming from the far room. He hasn't bothered calling out to Shinra. He doesn't want to listen to him ramble on about the stupidest things again. He also doesn't want to attract the attention of that rather annoying man that's been sitting across from his room for a while now. He's not paying attention to him, but he's still apparently guarding his room. Every time he moves to glance at Izaya, the raven-haired male just closes his eyes and pretends he's still asleep. It's really hard to not smile at such an idiot, though. From what he's hearing in the other room, they're all talking about him. That Mikado boy, Shinra, Shizu-chan and most likely Celty from the occasional pauses and silent tip-tapping of someone typing on their phone. 

He appreciates being talked about it. It's always good to be remembered and cared for. But he'd love to join the conversation, give his own twisted input. Anything was better than just laying here. It was almost torture, having nothing to do. He hated not doing things. Before hand, when he was stabbed a couple months ago, he was only in the hospital for a day or two. But even then, he was doing something. But now, he's been bedridden for apparently a week and he's done nothing. Well, besides that thing...

 

_**[Durarara!! OST - The Sought-After Extraordinary]** _

 

It's been on his mind since he woke up. That experience that he had last night, it was... It was honestly terrifying. Never had he even been in so much pain that he's vomited and blacked out. The worst pain he'd ever felt beforehand was probably when he was twenty and one of his sisters who were a mere ten at the time, Mairu smashed her foot into the back of his spine for no reason at all (or probably because he was running a test which ended with one of her favorite dolls in a blender. Don't ask). He honestly thought she snapped it in two, simply because he couldn't move for a moment, but after regaining himself, he felt relief. Ever since then, he's been cautious about his sisters even being in the same area as him. They might have been an odd ten years younger than him but they were vicious.

Honestly, he partially blamed himself in that regard. His parents both had work that very often took them overseas, which lead to him taking care of and basically raising the two all on his own. He recalls the first time they were left with him. He was barely fourteen and he had the awful experience of learning how to change not one but two diapers. Dreadful, really. He only went near them if they needed to be changed, they were hungry or they were crying. He felt like a single mom at the time which made him really ignore the two girls for as long as he possibly could. However, when they were finally 'house trained' and they could basically do everything on their own besides getting their own food and drink, Izaya kind of floated back to them. It mostly started when he was watching a movie by himself around two in the morning due to being unable to sleep. At this time, he was about eighteen, so sleep was off and on with him. The girls both had the same nightmare and, finding no other solution, let the girls watch tv with him until they fell asleep in his lap, which would in turn cause him to fall asleep. 

It was the only way they ever bonded. Wathing tv silently before going to bed was their own version of family time that Izaya very rarely admitted that he missed. However, just because they watched tv did not mean he was very nice to them. He remembers telling the that they were just copies of one another and that they should cease living since they had no real purpose. He didn't do it to bully, no, just wanted a reaction. And the reaction he got was not what he wanted. The two flipped a coin and two separate personalities were born. It was stupid. Very stupid. It made Izaya find it difficult to really love them because of how un-human they were. 

That was mostly why he blamed himself for how they turned out. He often wished they weren't so... Terrible. He might have been a heartless sociopath but even he sat there sometimes, wondering what it would have been like if he had a normal family that sat and had dinner together and laughed at the same dumb jokes. Instead, Izaya spent his childhood ordering take-out for his sisters and himself. And when he discovered after nearly three weeks of being alone with his sisters that his parents weren't going to return, whether it be because they got into an accident or decided Izaya could take care of himself and the girls, well... He didn't particularly feel sad. 

He cared about his sisters well-being. He didn't necessarily want them to die or be killed, but he didn't want to spend Christmas with them, either. That's all he had to say about that.

As if to save him from drowning in his own thoughts, Mikado wandered in with a glass of water with a straw in it. The boy looked much better now that he was rested and sounded like he was feeling better, too. "Hey there, Izaya. I was wondering when you were going to wake up."

Izaya gave a soft laugh. "Honestly, I've been awake for almost and hour now. I've just been thinking a little too hard to really call for anyone's attention." Well, he wasn't lying. 

"Oh, really? What were you thinking about?" Mikado said as he stretched went to Izaya's side, offering the glass. Gratefully, Izaya took the straw in his mouth and took in some of the liquid before pulling away and giving a satisfied sigh. That was much better than a dry throat. 

"Unimportant matters. So, why exactly and I here? I don't remember really coming here." Now, that one was a lie. 

Mikado made a concerned face, which Izaya considered his normal face to be honest, his gray-ish blue eyes searching Izaya as if to see if he was lying or not. It was amusing to Izaya that Mikado already knew how much of a liar he was and didn't even trust him when he was laying in a bed with abdominal pain and possible trauma, if any at all. That was good, though. Izaya didn't even trust himself sometimes.  

"You had another attack and I just couldn't handle the idea of going another couple days with it happening. You look like you're in a lot of pain whenever it happens..." 

"I would imagine so, Mikado-chan." Mikado gave a weak laugh, glancing away for a brief moment. This made the Information Broker wonder exactly what was on the corrupted teenagers mind. Maybe he was scared for him? Or maybe, like Shizu-chan, he was just biding time until Izaya most likely died. That would give the teen free range to do basically whatever he wanted, yet it would leave him with an easy way out. So, perhaps Mikado was only hoping that he lived simply for his own sake. How selfish. How delicious. 

"Mikado-chan..." Izaya said, the younger male turning his head to glance at him with a curious expression. "I never got to thank you. Without you, I would have been dead and gone. I mean, let's face it, I'm _still_ sore from my wounds and if that's the case, I probably would have died had you overlooked me. You saved my Life, Mikado-chan. and I thank you for that~" 

"Oh, no problem, Izaya! R-really, you don't need to thank me, I was just doing what anyone else would have done!" Mikado's cheeks flared up, which was weird yet oddly cute.  The raven haired male gave a hearty chuckle. "Unfortunately, Mikado, I can't agree with you on that one. I can name many, many people who would have and probably did look over me, spit in my direction and continue on their way."

"That's mostly because you're a piece of garbage, you worthless flea," A familiar voice said, one that wasn't exactly welcome.

 

_**[Durarara!! OST - The Legend of The Strongest Man in Ikebukuro]** _

 

Shizuo, sunglasses off for once, strode stiffly into the room as if he was trying very hard not to just tear the injured Informant apart. Hell, the way his jaw was moving, it was easy to see that Shizuo was grinding his teeth together angrily, probably itching for a cigarette and dying to snap Izaya's neck. Funny. 

"Awww, Shizu-chan, did you come all this way just to see _me?_ How sweet of you~!" Izaya cooed which made a vein bulge on the side of the blond's head and cause Mikado to cautiously move away from Izaya to avoid any potential crossfire. 

"Yea. Sorry I forgot some flowers. When the lady at the counter asked who you were and what you liked, _all the flowers mysteriously died._ " 

"Could have been because your hair is so blond, the sunlight burnt them all to death~" 

"Or, you stink so bad that even saying your name is fucking disgusting." 

"You make it seem like I'm Voldemort, not wanting to say my name or something~" Shizuo raised a brow.

"What?" Uncultured swine. Izaya didn't read often but even he was curious about British literature. The bickering  only lead to more people flooding into the already crowded room and honestly, Izaya was starting to feel claustrophobic. He didn't really have a way out and that really, really bothered him. Shinra, accompanied by Celty, started giggling as he made his way to the raven-haired male's side, the rooms light reflecting off his glasses. "You must be feeling better if you're arguing with Shizuo. Last night when Celty brought you in, it was like you didn't even know he was there!" 

Izaya made a face. "Maybe because I was unconscious, you idiot." 

"Touchy." Shinra moved away to check every monitor the injured male was hooked up to, muttering a few things about vitals or brainwaves or whatever as Celty took a step forward. She wasn't wearing her helmet and her shirt wasn't zipped up all the way like it usually was. It made Izaya smile, seeing her headless neck and knowing that the goal of her massive quest that she had been partaking in for so long was hidden in his own home. But, hey, some things are better left unsaid. Celty began typing on her phone, the smoke coming out of her neck slow moving yet fluctuating a bit. Izaya could only guess that could mean she was nervous, but then again, he didn't know her that well. 

**"How are you feeling?"**

"About as good as could be expected from a guy suffering from mysterious attacks~ How about you?" 

**"This isn't about me, Izaya. Stop pretending this isn't a huge matter."**

"But it isn't, transporter~ All I need to do is wait for Shinra here to patch me up and I'll be on my way." 

"You wish..." Shizuo mumbled, Celty jabbing her elbow into his arm and underestimating how bad it would hurt. 

 _ **Ow, ow, ow! God, what is he, a freaking rock?!**_ After a few seconds of recovering, her elbow now lightly throbbing, she began typing again in a more hurried fashion. **"See, that's the problem. Shinra can't patch you up because... He doesn't know what's wrong with you."**

 

**_ [ Durarara!! OST - Voiceless Scream ] _ **

 

 This honestly surprised Izaya. Shinra not knowing how to fix a medical problem? That was unheard of. To him, at least. Sure, Shinra must have had patients who died, but that was out of his control. If Izaya was awake, talking and spitting witty remarks at an idiot with anger issues, then surely it must be easy to find out what was wrong with him. It couldn't be anything more than a bug or some kind of disease, right? Maybe some form of cancer? He could live with that. Knowing something would kill him in a matter of a few weeks or months meant he could plan for his death, make arrangements, so on. Not knowing... That was some form of torment to him. 

Taking a seat beside the bed the injured informant was lying on, papers in hand as he sighed in potential defeat, a noise Izaya didn't particularly like hearing. As the underground doctor glanced through the papers he had, he grimaced. He hated looking at these right now. All they were was reminders that he had no idea how to help his friend. Every test was flawless, every indication that something else could be happening just simply wasn't there. "I hate to back up Celty on this matter, but it's true. I really don't know whats wrong. I've run every single test possible, I've given you cat-scans, x-rays, _everything._ The only thing I've understood through thorough investigation is that, out of all your wounds that have healed, you still have a puncture wound in the lower right quadrant of your abdomen and that the flesh around that area is very tender. Even after quite a bit of numbing medications, it still seems to bother you at even the slightest touch. I looked around on an ultrasound in that area, but I didn't see anything... I don't know what I can do."

The sheer face of defeat was enough to put Izaya on edge as he lay in his bed, staring at his covered feet. He strained his mind in an attempt to figure out what to do himself. Even Mikado was pondering rather harshly about the situation, as the teenager sat, chin in his hand as he stared at the floor, teeth gently gnawing on his tongue as he scrambled for an idea. Celty started to wonder, too. Back to the night, however. When she picked up Izaya and Mikado. She didn't see anything all too strange there. Then again, it was dark and she could barely see the blood gushing from Izaya's wounds at the time. She didn't really look for a cause, either, she was busy trying to get the Informant to safety, she didn't have time to go full blown FBI and conduct an investigation.

Mikado thought back on this as well. He sat there for a good ten minutes, holding a hand against Izaya's more serious wounds in an attempt to get them to stop bleeding. He looking around of course, attempting to see if there was anything that could help him. He could barely make out foot prints in the blood stains on the ground. He thinks he saw something on the ground, shining in the distant, faint street light, but he can't really remember exactly what it was. It looked like glass, but he really couldn't be sure. He went back to tending to Izaya the best he could before Celty arrived. After that, the crime scene was a blur.

Shizuo really didn't think about much. Except for the fact that he thought for a brief moment, he cared. But, maybe that was nothing. 

It was then that something clicked with Shinra, as he stood, sudden excitement in his eyes. "Mikado! You said Izaya kept having attacks, right? Explain it to me again."

Mikado seemed startled out of thought, shaking his head before nodding. "Y-yea. It was real scary, too... Every night at eight thirty-five, he'd just sit up, screaming and shaking. He'd puke into whatever I could get him at the time and then he'd just scream and cry before passing out... I thought it was nothing, but when it started happening for more than a few days..." Shinra nodded, silencing the boy before he looked at Izaya himself. "Izaya, has this ever happened before?" 

Izaya sat and pondered for a moment. _Had_ this ever happened before? The worst he's gotten was probably when he caught a stomach flu from a rotten meal. He hadn't bothered to check the expiration date and ignored how bad it smelt simply because it was hungry. For about three days afterwards, he spent hours handing over the toilet and expelling the rotten food. His stomach hurt, but that was most due to straining it and it went away when he started feeling better. Let's just say, since then, he's been very cautious about what he eats and how old it is. "Hmmm... No. Not that I can remember, and I think I would remember something like that."

"True... Hmm..." He muttered to himself before smiling, lifting a finger. "I have an idea!" 

 **"What is it, Shinra?"** Celty inquired.

"Do you know whats going on?" Mikado chimed.

"Just spit it out." Izaya sat himself. 

"This is bullshit..." Shizuo groaned, earning a glare from nearly everyone in the room. 

"Izaya, I know this is gonna suck, but tonight I want to observe your attack. If I monitor it, I might be able to pinpoint where it's epicenter is-" 

"No." Izaya earned himself stares of disbelief. Shizuo, seemingly bored of this situation, decided to leave the room. Probably to go outside and smoke. 

"But... Izaya, we need to fix you! You can't go on like this forever, your body with eventually give out!! You'll collapse under yourself and probably die!!!" Shinra insisted. But from the looks of it, he wasn't getting anywhere with the Informant, as he was already removing his IV's and other various hook-ups, much to Shinra's dismay. 

"I'm not going to sit around and let you wait for something that might not even happen. I don't want to be in here anyways." It was Mikado's turn to speak up. "But what if the attack _does_ happen? What if you can't call for help?! What if-" 

Izaya snapped his fingers in front of Mikado's face to silence him, giving a grimace that wasn't often seen on his face. "I'll be fine. I'm sure it won't happen. Even if it does, I'll just have Namie call an ambulance or something. Until the, I'm leaving. I have places to be, lives to disarray. You know. _What I do._ " 

Izaya, moving to leave the room after standing and stretching, wincing a bit at the pain in his belly, Celty stood in front of him, typing frantically before nearly bashing her phone into his face in order to get him to read her text. **"Izaya, this is crazy, you can't just get up and leave like this isn't important!"**

"Oh, transporter... Yes, I can. You legally can't keep me here, now can you~?" Dammit. He had her there. "Please step aside and let me go." 

She hesitated, contemplating before, to Shinra and Mikado's dismay, she slowly stood to the side, allowing him to pass. He stopped in his tracks for a moment as Mikado and Shinra stood by Celty's side, taking note on the fact that she was incredibly tense. And, honestly, so were they. Giving a brief laugh, Izaya exited the room and the apartment, still in his hospital gown (which was more of a robe than anything) and his cares at his back. 

 

\------- _The Streets of Ikebukuro, 8:00 pm_ \--------

 

 

_**[Durarara!! OST - Their Aspirations]** _

 

 

"And he just left?" 

**"Yea... We tried to talk him out of it, but he's almost as stubborn as you. He thinks he's invincible..."**

"You should have known he was an idiot. And I'm and idiot for leaving so early. I could have killed him right there."

**"Stop it."**

Shizuo gave a small laugh as he drew in a large breath of smoke, holding it in for a brief moment before exhaling, the toxic cloud exiting a small part between his lips and floating endlessly into the dark sky. He'd been thinking about that stupid flea all day, how hilarious yet unusual it was for a corrupted bastard like him to be taken down so easily and to even have problems that could be considered 'attacks.' He was having trouble processing the information even after hours of leaving the partment to clear his head and get a good cigarette in his mouth. While he was out, he met up with Tom and elaborated the situation with him. He was glad that his senpai agreed with him, how it was funny but weird. But... 

 

_"Why are you telling me anyways, Shizuo?"_

_"Hmm?" Tom had stopped the both of them with that question as they walked down the street, cups of coffee in hand as they chatted. The warmth kept making Shizuo's hands sweaty and he had to change which hand was holding his cup every five minutes, which was irritating._

_"I mean that lately, especially since a lot of happenings in the city calmed down, you've been mentioning Orihara a lot."_

_"I don't fucking understand you."_

_"Hey, hey, hey, relax. I was just pointing out that you keep talking about him." Tom had started walking again, a weird smile on his face as he flipped some of his hair out of his face, adjusting his glasses afterwards. Shizuo watched him for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what Tom was getting at before he hurried to catch up with his senpai._

_They would walk in silence for quit some time. It gave Shizuo a moment to really think about thinks. He wasn't one to reminisce, but he couldn't help but remember the day he met Tom in high school. He had just gotten into a fight, again, and Tom came to him, gave him advice on how to help himself gain a peaceful life. One of those included dying his hair just to get a newer reputation and keep assholes away. He remembered one day when a few seniors congratulated Tom for taming a 'wild dog,' as they said, to which Tom replied that Shizuo was not a dog nor an object to be controlled, seeing as the seniors originally planned to use Shizuo as a weapon for their own purposes. when Tom left, they planned to attack him. Luckily, Shizuo was dozing nearby and attacked the in retaliation._ _However, the seniors did manage to corner Tom. They roughed him up a bit, as expected, but when Shizuo caught wind, he was quick to show up and save his senpai. It was then that Shizuo could help but ask why Tom didn't use him. And he remember's Tom's words._

_"You don't like fighting. Therefore, you shouldn't fight."_

_They eventually parted ways and, for quite a few years, Shizuo had problems keeping a job. Even after his little brother, Kasuka, helped him find a permanent job as a bar tender. Kasuka even gave him several bar tender outfits that Shizuo made sure to wear and wash every day. But, unfortunately, because of that fucking flea, he lost his only job that he could get a handle on._ _After being released from jail after being found innocent of doing a crime he did not commit, he ran into Tom again. It was form then on that he worked as Tom's bodyguard, serving to help him as a debt collector and keeping him safe._

_Shizuo was shaken from his thoughts as Tom stopped by a busy intersection, his senpai observing the hundreds of people walking up and down the streets._

_"You feel it, don't you?"_

 

**_[Durarara!! OST - Dry Harbinger]_ **

 

_"Feel what?"_

_"The atmosphere. Take a moment and just... Listen. Watch."_

_After a moment, Shizuo watched them, too. He didn't know why, but he did.Then, he saw it. It wasn't all that visible, but it was easy to see at the same time. Everyone seemed... Stiff. They were looking so unprepared, waiting, nervous, anxious. They were waiting for something to happen. Waiting for another cloud of chaos to erupt into the air as a thick smog and everyone was caught in. Not directly, just to be in it. Enveloped into it._

_"They're waiting."_

_"Yea..."_

_"Do you know what they're waiting for, Shizuo?" Shizuo looked at the smaller male, seemingly for guidance, eager to hear what he had to say. Tom always seemed so wise, always knew what to do, what to say. "They're waiting for Orihara to start shit up again."_

_Well, shit, maybe not._

_"Tch."_

_"C'mon, Shizuo,_ look _at them. They're all so damn jittery and nervous, it's hard to tell who's who. Everyone's glancing over their shoulders, waiting for something to happen. Have you noticed the crime rate has gone down? In a_ week, _the crime rate has almost completely diminished.  It's still there, but no one cares about petty crimes. They're waiting for the big stuff, the stuff that interrupts broadcasts, the stuff that makes them want to leave their houses just to have a look for themselves. That hasn't happened. Not in a week. and to this city, that ain't ok."_

_Tom was right in that sense. It looked like the Color gangs especially were sitting back, eyeing up their territory like a bunch of coyotes waiting to dive in and get some scraps. They were antsy and pulling off small crimes just wasn't sufficing them. The Dollars were feeling this, too. Not the need for chaos, just the air of the city was was to stale for their liking. A few members of The Dollars were breaking out of their own lines, spitting taunts at other gangs and barring their teeth at anyone who got to close. But, like everyone else, they were waiting. Except The dollars weren't scavengers. They were the big, bulky dogs at the end of a chain, either braking their heads off or sitting in silence, waiting for a command, waiting to be free. They wanted action. And they wanted it now._

_"It's changed you, too, you know."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"Ever since the cities gone stiff, you've done nothing but curse at Orihara and blame everything on him. Much more than usual. In fact, he's the only one you ever bring into the conversation anymore. It's always 'what the hell is he doing' or 'he's up to something.' Makes me think you're worried about him." Tom said in an almost teasing manner, a smile quick to form on his face as he looked at Shizuo in the corner of his eye. Shizuo, who was taking a drink of his coffee, nearly choked, sputtering and wiping his mouth, coughing as he attempted to catch his breath, Tom chuckling heavily into his hand. Shizuo glared at Tom, hands shaking as he took a few deep breaths. How dare he insinuate he actually cared about that filthy fucking flea?! It was absurd! Yet... He had nothing to say in return... Why?  He had plenty of arguments, plenty of reasons. He just... Couldn't voice them._

_That was when Shizuo left Tom in a huff, ran into Celty on the street and had a heated debate with her about the Flea. That's also when he raced over to Shinra's to finally erase that worthless fucking piece of trash. And he could have done it. Easily, too. He was So ready to push Shinra aside and sent the killing blow right into Izaya's unconscious face. But... Then, he hesitated. Actually fucking hesitated. Seeing Izaya laying in that bed, hooked up to so many things, exhaustion and pain etched onto his unmoving face... It make something in Shizuo's gut twist in an uncomfortable manner that actually forced him to look away._

_"Izaya is not to be touched in any violent manner until he is well enough to fend for himself!" Shinra said loudly, arms spread to prevent Shizuo from entering the room. Mikado was there, breath baited as he stood back, Celty at his side._

_"...But what if he tries something?"  Shizuo managed to breathe out as he adjusted his glasses, eyes focused on a wall, a plant, fucking anything._

_"Then I'll subdue him. He can't due much now, and when he's all healed, you can at least call it 'self-defense' if you kill him." That made sense. Actual, logical sense. Shizuo could say Izaya came at him with his knife and he broke his neck eight times in retaliation. Besides, he couldn't bring himself to kill someone who couldn't defend themselves. Attack them, sure, but kill them? No. He wasn't a murderer._

_"Fine. Fucking fine. I'll play your game, Shinra. But I'm not leaving."_

_"What? Why?"_

_Shizuo glared into Izaya's 'room', at Izaya, at his stupid fucking face that seemed so strangely innocent, it was sickening."He's done something. He did this to himself and I promise you it was all apart of his plan. He'll get up and leave one day, laughing. But he won't laugh for long. Cus I'll snap his skinny fucking neck. Then we'll see who's laughing then."_

_He was right. He had to be right. Izaya was a little fuckhead who started shit that didn't need to happen. And when the time was right, he'd be there to stop it..._

 

**"Are you even listening to me?"**

"What?" He glanced back at the Headless Rider, the Dullahan lowering her helmet and shoulders as if to sigh before typing into her phone and showing it to Shizuo _again_. 

**"Do you think I should go get him? Y'know, bring him back for the care he deserves...?"**

Shizuo huffed a laugh. "The care he deserves? A rat deserves more than he does." 

 **"Will you stop with the rudeness? You know what's happening to the city, right?"**  

"God, you sound like Tom... Yes. I know. Everyone's freaking the fuck out right now because everything is normal for once." 

 **"And I would guess you know why."** Of course he did... 

**"Because of him."**

"Because of him..." They 'said' in unison. Celty tilted her head as she gazed at Shizuo, the unusually strong man looking at the ground. He looked... Sad? Or distraught. she couldn't tell. It started to bug her when Shizuo simply threw his cigarette on the ground and smashed it with his shoe, the tall male giving a seemingly exhausted sigh. He glanced up at the sound of her typing again. She typed and typed, hesitated, erased something, before typing again and showing her phone to him. He had to reread a few times to make sure he wasn't reading it wrong. 

**"You kinda miss him, don't you?"**

Shizuo raised a brow and expected anger to rise in his chest and... He was surprised when it didn't. He huffed, glancing away, his cheeks feeling hot for some reason he couldn't really figure out. "No. I don't." She began typing again which, of course, forced him to look again. She'd flash her phone a few times, as only so many characters could fit on her phone before the text got to small to read. 

**"Yes, you do. You miss having someone to chase, having someone to blame. And you can't blame him because you don't have enough reasons to blame him for. You miss having something to do, you miss the feeling you get when you spot him and you miss chasing him until he inevitably escapes. You miss him because he's become apart of your daily routine and it's eating you up inside right now because I'm right."**

God, she was right. Why, oh why did she have to be so painfully right?

He missed him. He was so fucking bored this entire week. He's missed seeing his stupid face. He's missed hearing his annoying voice. He's missed being mad at him. _He's missed Izaya Orihara._ And it feels fucking dreadful... 

**"Its alright, Shizuo. I won't tell anyone, ok? Now, will you help me convince him to come back...? He needs help and you know it..."**

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. FUCK. 

"... Fine... But don't be surprised if I try to kill him." 

**"I understand."**

 

\------- _Izaya's Apartment, 8:32 pm_ \--------

 

"Three more minutes..." He says to himself as he stares at his computer monitor. He can't believe he's actually _waiting_ for something to happen, yet, here he is, trashcan between his legs as a precaution and his cellphone very close. He's not one to call for help, not even in dire situations, but he's still cautious. After what Mikado said and the fact that his stomach was indeed still hurting, he didn't want to chance anything. However, he still did feel a sense of doubt. He silently doubted that anything would happen. But that was honestly more for comfort than anything. It was a bit of an understatement to say that he was a bit nervous, even a bit scared. But he, being the prideful man he was, still held onto the belief that he was ok now. 

The whole time he's been here, he's been researching, trying to figure out and remember exactly what he did a week ago that cause someone to attack. Surprisingly, he couldn't find anything. Like, anything at all. It was as if his software had been erased because files that were from much longer than a week ago had vanished from both his computer and his laptop. He had a serious inclination that Namie, former chief at Yagiri Pharmaceuticals who was now Izaya's secretary, had wiped out everything important on his devices. He would interrogate her... If she was here. In fact, it looked like she hadn't been here in a long while. In fact, he doesn't even remember seeing her since before everything happened. He resorted to the idea that she would go practice incest on her brother, like she wanted, and left it at that. 

Well. Look at the time. 

Eight thirty-four. Just about ten more seconds and he'd figure it out. He'd see if he'd risk his pride to save himself or some cliche bullshit like that. 

Five... Four... He clenched the edge of the trashcan, gulping as he counted. 

Three... Two... He closed his eyes, taking a deep inhale. One...

...Nothing. Nothing happened. He sat there, maybe for a minute or two, before he opened his eyes. Eight thirty-seven. He wasn't dead. He wasn't violently hurling into a trashcan. He wasn't screaming. He was ok. 

He was ok... 

Throwing his arms up, he laughed as he spun about in his chair. "Hahaha! How do you like _that_ , Shinra?! I was right, I was right, I was right!!" He'd be perfectly honest when he said that he was much more relived than anything. It felt so good to be ok. In fact, it brought memories back. He remembered getting stabbed, almost dying and remembering his love for humans. remembering such a memory made him giggle endlessly as his fingers flew across the keyboards of both his laptop and computer as he set to work putting the city back in order as it should have been. There was so much time lost that he needed to recover for. And he had a perfect idea of where to start. 

Logging into The Dollars chat room, he smiled as he brewed up ideas, a giggle jumping out of his throat every now and then.

 

_[Kanra has logged on.]_

Kanra: Hello beautiful people! Didja miss me? (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

....

Kanra: Hmmm? No one else on?

Kanra: That's alright. I just wonder who else is going to learn what news I heard! 

_[Saika has logged on.]_

Saika: I'm here, Kanra. What's up? 

 _[Bakyura has logged on.]_  

_[Taro Tanaka has logged on.]_

Taro: I'm here!

Bakyura: Me, too! What's shakin'? 

Saika: Kanra had something interesting to say.

 

Izaya couldn't help but smile.

 

Kanra: Yuppers! Suuuuper scary stuff, though! 

Taro: Oh? What's going on, Kanra?

Kanra: You don't know? That brute Shizuo Heiwajima is reeaaaallllyyyy mad lately!

Kanra: I heard he's picking fights with The Dollars!!

 

It was weak, but it was enough to set off some chain events if it was willing. 

 

Saika: What?!

Taro: Why? 

Bakyura: Man, that is scary... ヾ(;ﾟДﾟ;)ｼ

 

 _[Scorpio has logged on.]_  

 

Hmmm? Who was this curious character?

 

Scorpio: Venom. 

Taro: Huh?

Bakyura: Anyone know this guy? 

Saika: Spammer? 

Scorpio: Venom, Kanra. You got some in ya, huh?

 

Izaya found his fingers frozen over the keyboard, his throat tightening as his chest suddenly felt tight as well.

 

Taro: Kanra, who is this guy? 

Scorpio: Ain't the only one starting things, huh, Kanra? 

Scorpio: Yes, you know. 

Scorpio: You should leave things alone, shouldn't you?

Bakyura: This guy is creepy... 

Taro: No kidding...

Scorpio: Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson again. 

 

Mikado felt his breath hitch. No way... Was this the guy who...? 

 

Scorpio: See you soon, Kanra. 

Scorpio: Very, very soon. 

Scorpio: ♏

_[Scorpio has left the chat room.]_

 

Izaya felt his heart racing. He knew that name. He knew that chat name. From where, he couldn't place. But, it was bothering him enough for him to log out himself, turning away from his computer to grab his phone and scroll through texts. Surprisingly, they were in tact. Dammit. Why, did he text so much and never erase-- There! "Scorpion Scorpio." A horrid name, but a name nonetheless.

He selected the text messages and scrolled through them. Promises of business boosting were occasionally shared before Izaya apparently said a text reading 'You snooze, you looze." Spelled like that and everything. The text from Scorpio read only the Scorpio sign. That fancy 'm' looking thing spammed over and over, creating at least ten lines before halting. Nothing was shared between them again. It appeared that Izaya had found his attacker.

 _Knock, knock, knock._  

And not a moment too soon.

 

_**[Durarara!! OST (vol.2) Hateshinai Fushin ]** _

 

Izaya stood, his hand reaching for his knife in his pocket at the door to his apartment opened, revealing a man in a black suit, his charcoal hair slicked back and dark stubble creating something of a goatee. He was very tall, maybe as tall as Shizuo himself, but he was a bit heavy. Not overweight, but you could definitely tell he had a belly. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and behind him were two men dressed in a similar fashion that he was. From the looks of it, his left ear had a giant chunk missing from the upper shell, his hands which were draped by his sides were covered in scars and even some fresh cuts that were coated in scabs. There was a small tattoo of a scorpion on the side of his neck that was faded from years of being on the man's skin and it appeared that he wore it proudly.

As Izaya moved his mouth to say something along the lines of 'I didn't hear you knock' or something, knife raised at eye level, the intruder reached into his pocket, pulling out a tiny remote and giving the thing a little 'click.'

 With that, that unbearable pain erupted in his gut. His knife fell to the floor with a clatter as he felt himself cough. He clenched his stomach hitting the floor, nearly smashing his head against his table on the way down as his mouth started foaming a bloody foam. This pain was different. He didn't feel like screaming or throwing up until the pain was numbed. He felt paralyzed, held down by the pain in his stomach that made him curl into himself, fingers digging into the flesh of his own stomach as he breathed shakily, his frame shuddering violently. The intruder gave a chuckle as he slowly approached, moving around Izaya's desk and sitting in his chair, the tall male leaning forward on his knee's and peering down at the Informant, a stupid grin slapped on his face that showed his gross, yellow teeth. Izaya could smell some form of alcohol on his breath and it sickened him to smell, as it wasn't the only scent he could smell.  

"Holy hell, Mr. Orihara. When my men told me that the bug would let me do anything to you, I was a bit skeptical. Even though it only has two settings, it clearly works, doesn't it?" Izaya could only look at him with his eyes. He was focused on his breathing which was heavy and ragged, occasional and strangled shouts coming from his throat as foam formed in the corners of his mouth. The sight made the stranger grin and laugh, Izaya flinching as his nose was assaulted by that terrible smell. "Do you remember me, Mr. Orihara? I'm Dokubari Sutingā, leader of Scorpion. You remember me, right?" 

Now he did. Dokubari had approached him as a new business associate a while back. Izaya kept blowing him off due to his relations to the Awakusu but when Mr. Sutinga said he had an offer he couldn't refuse... Well, he really couldn't. Sutinga had connections in places that even Izaya envied. Connections to higher powers, powers that stretched out of Ikebukuro itself. With power like that, Izaya could have done anything he wanted. He could do anything he wanted and he could endlessly observe his humans, the humans he loved. However, when he learned that Sutinga merely wanted Izaya's spot so that he could have both Ikebukuro and his original city, Izaya refused. He didn't _just_ refuse, actually. He had managed to trick Sutinga and his men to go visit a few of The Dollars, as Izaya had lied, saying that The Dollars were his main connection that got him control throughout Ikebukuro. This shortened Sutinga's men from a staggering twenty to a mere eight. It wouldn't seem like much to anyone else, but to Sutinga, that was a lot of people he could force to do his will going down the toilet. And that would mean he'd waste precious money buying new men to work for him, which meant using precious time to search for those mean, which meant stock prices on whatever he sold would go down to to lack of productivity. 

"It's not nice getting ganged up on, is it? I bet you're still sore, huh? Well, unfortunately for you, it'll only get worse. You've realized whats been happening at eight thirty-five, ain'tcha?" Izaya choked a response, but Sutinga didn't bother to have him repeat it "That's my little bug I lodged into your abdomen. It's digging right into your nerves and whenever I want you to sit still, I press the right button. But when I want you to feel some well-deserved agony... I hold the left button~" 

Sutinga held the left button to demonstrate, much to Izaya's horror. Within seconds, waves of painful electricity rocketed against his most likely fried nerves which forced a scream out of the Informant, tears unintentionally breaking free. He was very much ready to unleash a wave of vomit, but Sutinga let the button go and the vile liquids were forced down by swallowing, the raven-haired male left to lay there, painting harshly and whimpering, hands holding his stomach as his vision grew a bit blurry, either from tears or his consciousness fading in and out. 

"Works like a beauty. Now, don't worry, Orihara. I won't kill you tonight. But I will eventually. All you have to do is give your position to me~ I'll relocate you to a knew city that you can have all to yourself. Although, it may be tiny, It'll be yours. Cus, you see," Sutinga reached down, grabbing Izaya by his shirt and pulling him up, the Raven-haired male feeling his stomach do a flip as the world spun around him, Sutinga's voice suddenly uncomfortably close to his ear. "You've got a powerful position. With your position, I can get so much done. But, I'll be honest, your position isn't all I want." 

Izaya looked at Sutinga, eyes barely open as he tried to speak in protest but only found the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. Without care, Sutinga continued. 

"I want that leader of The Dollars. They've got a lot of people that I can use. I know that you know the leader and I know you can give him to me. I also want The Headless Rider and the Blond guy. Both of them could be powerful assets to my force. With all of that. You get to stay alive, even get the bug removed and I get all the power I've ever wanted. Hmmm?" He glanced down at the male who was resting in his arms, the raven-haired male laughing, which honestly sounded more like coughing. 

"S-selfish... N-n-none of them w-would ever g-go work for you..." With a sudden click, Izaya felt his body jolt, another scream tearing out of him before Sutinga pushed him off his lap, letting the button go simultaneously. Izaya hit the floor on his stomach, a sickening pain ripping though his abdomen that made him throw up in his mouth. He'd be lying if he said some of that vomit didn't end up on the floor. 

"That's what the bugs are for, you useless idiot. We give one to all of them and they will have no choice but to listen to me. Just like you will, am I right?" After hearing no response, the tall man scoffed, holding the left button again. "I said... Am I right?" Smiling at the male below, said male stiffened and yelped in pain before puking onto the floor, his head falling to one side after Sutinga let the button go, his tiny frame going limp.

"I'll give you a month to get things in order for me. Until then, I'll let off on the clicker. You'll be getting a shock treatment at the end of every week, sort of as a... Reminder, of some sort." Sutinga stood, stepping over Izaya and walking towards the front door, his men in toe. He hesitated, turning around and calling to the raven-haired male. "Oh... Tell anyone about the bug and I will have you dead within minutes, you got that? I'll see you around."

As the door shut, Izaya shivered, eyes struggling to stay open as he attempted to sit up. Using all of his might, he eventually gathered the strength to reach up for his cellphone, using a finger to drag it and let it fall down next to him. Falling back down, and nearly passing out from the act, he tapped about on his phone before his messages pulled up. Trying as hard as he could to focus, he scrolled through until he found, or at least he hoped he found, Shinra's number. He tapped his phone a few times, absolutely unaware of what buttons he was hitting.

He could only type so much before his eyes forced shut, darkness forcing him to sleep, his hand going limp on his phone but thankfully brushing against the 'send' button, a little envelope showing up on his screen before it inevitably fell asleep and eventually shut off, leaving the Informant completely and electronically alone. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I began doing the OST inserts simply because it's what played in my head while going through these scenes. If you don't like them or they're in the way, let me know so I can either figure out a way to not make them annoying or get rid of them entirely.


	3. The Upper Hand

_When I think back to Ikebukuro, it's never really a happy memory._

 

 

**_[Durarara!! OST - Voiceless Scream]_ **

 

 

_'Ikebukuro is a dangerous place full of dangerous people. Gangs, monsters, men with incredible physical power and other people with immeasurable mental power. People who can grab the city by the balls and turn it onto it's head. That's the city of Ikebukuro I've come to know. and it's not one I ever wanted to drag my friends into. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep them as innocent as I wanted..._

_Even I have been corrupted by this darkness and I think It's made me better. Regretful and cautious... But better. See, I used to be the leader of The Yellow Scarves. Some dudes even still call me 'chief,' as annoying as that is. When I was the leader, I mostly did it for popularity reasons. But... Then I met her. Saki. My beautiful girlfriend who was attacked... After it happened, well... I threw away my scarf and went on my own to attend high school. Not long after that, my best friend, Mikado Ryuugamine showed up. I hadn't felt so happy in a long time before then..._ _Then things got turned to shit. I honestly don't want to go too deep into it. The Dollars and The Yellow Scarves bit at each others necks, I'll say that much. That's all I wanna say, honestly..._

_I'd like to say after the incident was done, everything went back to normal. But it isn't true. You see... Mikado, he... changed. Or... He didn't. He was just different. Darker, yet happier. I never understood it, but at the time, I couldn't question it. I left Ikebukuro with Saki after she got out of the hospital. I didn't really have a clue what he was doing, but I had been having a bad feeling about it. And it got even worse recently. Something kept prodding at my heart, telling me to go back. As much as I didn't want to leave Saki, I just... I had to see. I had to see what was up with the city. Even from a distance, it's been feeling weird. Something's wrong. And due to that, I'm on a train, making my way back to that corrupted city._

_I keep wondering if maybe Mikado has gotten into some deep shit. Or maybe something happened to that Shizuo guy. Or, hopefully, something happened to that Orihara. Who knows. But I'm gonna figure it out._

_Saki... I hope I'll be back soon.'_

_\---------Mikado's Apartment , 9:00 pm\----------_

 

_[Taro Tanaka has logged on.]_

 

Mikado takes a moment to observe the previous logs. It looked like Izaya was actually feeling ok, as he predicted. Maybe he shouldn't have doubted him. It was already Nine 'O clock and he seemed as cheerful and as full of gossip as ever. The idea was unsettling at the same time it was relieving. Knowing he would be ok was a good thing. He'd gladly tell Shinra in the morning.

And, look at that, Masaomi and Anri were here, too!

 

Taro: I'm here!

Bakyura: Me, too! What's shakin'? 

Saika: Kanra had something interesting to say.

 

 

Of course he did. It wasn't Izaya if he didn't have anything to say or lie about. 

 

Kanra: Yuppers! Suuuuper scary stuff, though! 

Taro: Oh? What's going on, Kanra?

Kanra: You don't know? That brute Shizuo Heiwajima is reeaaaallllyyyy mad lately!

Kanra: I heard he's picking fights with The Dollars!!

 

Doubtful. In fact, impossible. But, it was unfortunately believable to those who didn't know Shizuo that well. Poor him. He'd at least play along.

 

Saika: What?!

Taro: Why? 

Bakyura: Man, that is scary... ヾ(;ﾟДﾟ;)ｼ

 

 _[Scorpio has logged on.]_  

 

 

 _Scorpio?_ Mikado doesn't remember giving a username like that a password... Then again, he doesn't remember half of the people he gave a password to.

 

Scorpio: Venom. 

Taro: Huh?

Bakyura: Anyone know this guy? 

Saika: Spammer? 

Scorpio: Venom, Kanra. You got some in ya, huh?

 

Mikado felt his fingers flying across his keyboard as he subconsciously used his Admin privileges to figure out who this guy was. something about the name and how he was speaking was unsettling. 

God... There was nothing. No information.

 

Taro: Kanra, who is this guy? 

Scorpio: Ain't the only one starting things, huh, Kanra? 

Scorpio: Yes, you know. 

Scorpio: You should leave things alone, shouldn't you?

Bakyura: This guy is creepy... 

Taro: No kidding...

Scorpio: Perhaps you need to be taught a lesson again. 

 

Mikado felt his breath hitch. No way... Was this the guy who...? His blue-ish gray eyes carried over to his phone and before he knew it, he was reaching for it and searching for Celty's number.

 

Scorpio: See you soon, Kanra. 

Scorpio: Very, very soon. 

Scorpio: ♏

_[Scorpio has left the chat room.]_

 

"He left?! Who was that guy!?!" 

 

_[Kanra has left the chat room.]_

 

"I-Izaya?! No.. No, this isn't good..." His hands began to shake as a sudden fear crept up his spine as he started to worry for Izaya's safety. Selecting Celty's number and dialing it, he brought the phone up to his ear, eyes glancing over Scorpio's file again and again in disbelief that it said nothing. It rang a few times before it was picked up, a tap of acknowledgement filling his right ear. "Listen, Celty, you need to hurry over to Izaya's! We were in the chat room and someone named 'Scorpio' showed up and started talking about nonsense!! Then he made a threat towards Izaya and... I think he needs help, Celty!!!" 

There was silence for a brief moment before a tap came through. Suddenly, the call dropped. Mikado brought his phone to look at his screen. 'Call ended.' Did Celty not believe him? 

 Then a message appeared and Mikado was quick to open it, eyes scanning it quickly. 

**_'Do you know who this Scorpio is?'_ **

_'No. He just showed up. His file has absolutely nothing on it.'_ He replied. He would wait for another few minutes before another text came through. 

**_'Did Izaya have another attack at all? Do you know?'_ **

_'No, he was as happy and twisted as ever. Then when Scorpio started talking, he went silent. He logged of right after Scorpio did, I didn't have the chance to ask him anything...'_ He typed as fast as he could, biting his lip as he dug deeper into any archives he could find on his laptop. He could hear constant 'bloop'ing of more messages coming from the chat room. He'd investigate in a minute. 

His phone rumbled and he glanced at the text. 

 ** _'Alright. I have Shizuo with me, we're going to go see if he's ok.'_** Was she insane? Shizuo would kill him faster than any attack would!

'Are you sure that's a good idea? With Shizuo I mean...'

_**'It's ok. Shizuo isn't really in the mood to kill him, surprisingly. I'll get back to you. Find out anything you can on Scorpio and alert Shinra just to be safe.'** _

'Be safe.'

_**'You, too.'** _

He sets his phone down, closing out the files, as they were proving useless to him anyways. He glances back at the chat room and notices that Bakyura had private messaged him.

[Private chat]

Bakyura: Mikado, whats going on?

Bakyura: Mikado, answer me. why isn't Orihara saying anything?

Bakyura: You know Scorpio?

 

How impatient...

 

Taro: Masaomi, I can't really tell you anything because I don't know. I think the only one who does is Izaya.

Bakyura: You think he's planning something?

Taro: I doubt it. 

 

...

 

Taro: I have to g

Taro: *go

Bakyura: Mikado? C'mon, dude! 

 

_[Taro Tanaka has left the chat room.]_

 

"I hate to shut you out like this... But I'm not done with the Dollars yet, Masaomi... The less you know, the safer you'll be..." Mikado then went into the Dollars main website. If he didn't know who Scorpio was, surely someone did. Selecting the 'status' button, he began to type out his informal wanted poster, a grimace on his face. 

 

_Dollars_

 

_If anyone knows 'Scorpio', I would like you to come forward about it and share._

_No time to explain._

_Get information please._

 

_-Admin_

 

He was getting more passive aggressive with every little thing he did with the Dollars anymore, which wasn't exactly healthy, however it was necessary. The Dollars still needed a lot of construction before it was perfect. Having a wild card like Scorpio simply would not be tolerated and as far as Mikado was concerned, The Dollars came first. They were his key to a better, happier life with Masaomi and Anri. They were his everything right now and He would quit High school if he could just to make his Dollars- his world perfect. 

"Maybe Izaya getting hurt isn't such a bad thing." He found himself murmuring. The longer he stayed down, the better. It was for the greater good, of course. He didn't want him to die, he just didn't need his schemes getting in the way of him. Izaya had always caused problems for those around him and himself. The city missed him, he knew that. The very buildings seemed to groan with boredom and the people made even louder protests. 

But that didn't matter right now. It was the Dollars. The Dollars... And nothing else.

"Take a nap, Izaya. A very, very long nap." Mikado found that his mouth was pulled back into some sick grin that he only let slip a few times, his gray-ish blue eyes looking void of life and soul as well as empathy. They weren't his eyes, a comment anyone he knew would probably whisper under their breath, and he would hear them. He'd hear them all.   
  
"And stay out of the way."

 

\------------ . . . -------------

 

_"Iza-nii!!"_

_"Iza..."_

_Uhg._

 

** _[Durarara!! OST - Green Memories]_ **

 

 _Izaya glanced up from his book, his brown, almost red looking eyes reflecting irritation that he felt in his chest. What did_ they _want?_

_Izaya Orihara, eighteen years old and only one month away from finally being done with High school, was busy sitting at home at eight o clock at night, taking care of his seven old sisters. They were annoying as all hell, loud as all hell and and twisted devils for their age.  Of course, he should be used to this by now. He's been babysitting them since he was a child himself. His damn parents hadn't come home in two years, though they often called. At least once a month, which was a  lot for them._

_He should be used to it. But he isn't. They're cute, they're loud, they're insufferable. But, they're his sisters. What on earth was he supposed to do._

_"What do you brats want?"_

_"Iza-niiiiii~!" Mairu called a second time, her twin sister quickly running behind her as the small girl dashed into the living room and jumped onto the couch her big brother at on, Kururi right behind her. "Whatcha doin, Iza-nii?" Mairu asked, her more silent twin repeating the question simply with her stare._

_"What does it look like? I'm reading."_

_"Reading what?" They said in unison._

_"A book."_

_"What is the book about, Iza-nii...?" Kururi said quietly. Izaya gave a sigh, knowing all too well that he wasn't going to get away with short-handed answers. To be honest, his sisters were too clever for that._

_"It's about a Japanese Sun Goddess and how she was reincarnated as a wolf. It's a silly story, I'm not sure why I'm reading it..."_

_"Read it to us!"_

_"Yes, read it..."_

_"Read it! Read it!" Mairu began to bounce up and down and to be honest, Izaya couldn't help but smile. Of course, it didn't last long._

_"I thought you didn't like books?"_

_"It's always good to try new things!" Mairu chimed._

_"Besides, you'd be reading it, so it makes it better..." Kururi added._

_"Uuuhhggggg... Fine... C'mere." He adjusted himself as the girls sat on either of his sides, their tiny arms wrapping around his waist and arms. Izaya flipped all the way back to the first page of the book, clearing his throat._

_"'She would raise her tail, her tail would flick and like magic, the sun would rise or set, the wind would blow harshly like a winter storm, fire would bend to her will like a dragons heated breath or the water would curl and flick through the air like a dancer. She was a wolf. She was a God. She was not always this way...'"_

_He would continue to read, his attitude never faltering. In fact, he relaxed, suddenly feeling at ease with his sisters at his side, one if the very few people who could love and protect, regardless of how annoying they might have been. Years of raising them gave him a father complex, you could say. He cared deeply for them, yet he already knew his influence was already ruining them._ _He knew this wouldn't last. He knew after he put the book down, he would have to distance himself and hate them. He'd have to lie and be rude. He'd have to be the opposite of how he wanted to act, be the opposite of who they knew._

 

 _But he did it because he didn't want them to turn into_ him _._

 

_He did it because he loved them._

 

\---------- . . _Briefly_ . . ------------

 

"Oi! Izaya-kun!!"

 

The voice was faint, yet he heard it. He couldn't determine who was saying it or why. He felt hazy and at peace, memories giving him a brief moment of relaxation he no longer knew. His breathing was normal. If anything, if was a bit weak. But nothing too concerning. His abdomen was burning and sore, but that was all he felt besides someone gently shaking him and the gentle touch of a hand on his cheek. So nice...

"Flea!" 

 _Flea?_ Who called him that... He couldn't remember, but he thinks he loves them. They were probably human, after all. And he loved humans.

"Izaya!!!" 

Jeez. 

He tried to open his eyes. Didn't work at first. Then, he slowly managed to get his eyes open, his vision blurred and his hearing no better. He saw several blobs. They were black and yellow. Like a bee... Buzz, buzz, buzz, bee's were pretty... Buzzzz... Sleepy...

"Don't go back to sleep, you sorry sack of shit! Wake up!!"

He felt himself get shaken a lot harder and it caused pain to rise in his stomach. At the feeling, he opened his eyes again, his vision clearing. 

Shizuo. Shizuo Heiwajima was leaning over him like the knight from Sleeping Beauty.

Uhm. What. 

He blinked, his eyes shifting over to another figure, that headless rider, Celty. She has her helmet on and her hand was on his cheek. Felt comforting... 

"... How did you two get in...?" He asked tiredly, Shizuo huffing. 

"That Mikado kid called. Said you were in trouble. Celty insisted we check on you and  guess Mikado had good intuitions." 

"Whaddya mean...?" Izaya blinked slowly, his head turning to the side as Celty tapped on her PDA, showing him the messages a few times as she always did, the text shifting every time. 

**"When we got here, you were unconscious next to a puddle of vomit and blood... Shizuo and I dragged you away from your desk so we can properly analyze you."**

"I... Don't really remember what happened..." 

"Probably had another attack, sounds like." Shizuo noticed, his facial expression rather calm for being near someone he hated greatly. In fact, the very idea that he wasn't acting out right now was fairly amazing. Perhaps he was taken aback by the fact that these 'attacks' were indeed existing. Perhaps he wanted to deny it and yet he couldn't. Or perhaps he, for once, cared for Izaya's well being. After all, he wasn't completely a monster. He couldn't really fathom completely killing someone as the most he did to anyone was toss them around until they gave up or they were knocked unconscious. 

Or maybe he was just crazy. It was anyone's guess. 

**"C'mon. Let's get you over to Shinra's and get you cleaned up."**

 

 

\---------------- _Raira Academy, 3:15 - The Next Day_ \--------------------

 

Focusing was out of the question for him today. His mind kept racing, the visions of those odd chat logs scrolling up and down his eyelids as he attempted to make a sense of everything in it's entirety. His constant state of zoning out was obvious to all, yet many simply attempted to ignore it. It wasn't like the class rep to be so... Distant. But the distance had to be made or else loosing all the thoughts he had already gathered would just drive him insane. His livid eyes stared past his own faint reflection in the classroom window as he pondered, taking in sights, memorizing them, and storing them away. He'd think about the beautiful morning and the wonderful afternoon another time. 

This man, this 'Scorpio'-- It was like he never really existed. Mikado stayed up all night, researching, reaching out to Dollars who may know anything, anything at all. He even stooped low enough to ask that Aoba Kuronuma if he even knew anything. When the blue haired boy couldn't offer anything for him, he left the conversation as if it didn't happen. Besides being the 'main boss' or whatever of the Blue Squares, Mikado slightly thought this boy was more of a nuisance than anything. Too eager to please and too eager to act like... Well, a common bitch. That was something Mikado wasn't used to, nor did he exactly like. He didn't hate it, though. Mikado used to be, if not, still was, like him. Obedient, quiet, eager to make others smile, or one person smile. For a time, that person was, to be honest, Masaomi Kida. 

You could call it and old crush. You can call it whatever the hell you wanted. Mikado didn't care, nor did he see reason to put a label on anything, either. Mikado looked up to Masaomi for the longest time. They were best friends and, in a way, Masaomi was his guiding light. That kid who was always there, offering warm smiles, terrible jokes and an overall good time. Now, Mikado _could_ go the Cliche way, say Masaomi pulled him away from the brink of suicide, shook him by the shoulders, screaming 'everything was going to be ok' while offering the best smile he could before pulling Mikado into that hug that could sew any wound shut but that simply wasn't true. Mikado was a very happy child. He just seemed to be happier with Masaomi there with him. And when Masaomi moved away... Well, he just got... Detached. 

The internet came around not long after and Mikado learned how to express emotions he felt deep inside through the characters on his keyboard. This began the formation of The Dollars.

At first, it was a joke. Start a fake gang, get people pulling a few harmless pranks and whatnot. The only way to get in was through a password that Mikado and his friends made up. The numbers were few, but after a few weeks, they began to rise. Suddenly, his friends were silent. He stopped hearing from them and as the numbers rose, he realized he would probably never hear from them again. That's when he decided to take charge. He could have backed down. Pretended The Dollars never truly existed. But... something rose in his heart. something that told him he _needed_ to do this. And he was damn sure going to. 

Eventually, through persuasion of Masaomi, who he had chatted online with since he left, and enough funds saved up, he went to Ikebukuro. He only went for three reasons, to be honest. He wanted to see what The Dollars were now, and he was honestly proud of what he saw. Of course, he had things to do, get rid of unneeded people, kept unnecessary's out of the way such as that Izaya Orihara. He didn't care if that asshole was dying internally, fucker almost messed things up so many times by now... And finally, he went there to be noticed, to not be left behind anymore, despite Masaomi having left him behind a _second time_ since he left with his girlfriend. And... Masaomi. He thought he could rekindle their close friendship but instead, Masaomi just got up and left _again_ like he didn't have someone waiting for him.

Damn, now Mikado was starting to sound like a jealous ex...

Wait, what was he talking about again?

Dammit! He'd been thinking about it _all day long_ and the second he thought of Masaomi, his mind went blank!! Perfect. Just _perfect_. He had great ideas, plans, everything and it just flew out the stupid fucking window like some dumb canary- 

"Mikado...?" Came the soft voice that pulled Mikado right out of his angered staring contest with his own reflection. His gaze quickly shifted towards Anri, a friend of his with glasses, short hair and a rather busty chest. The girl was always a quiet one and she was rather cute, Mikado had to admit. He'd date her... If she weren't kind of boring. 

"Oh, hey, Anri! What's up?" 

"The exit bell rang five minutes ago..." She observed quietly, a look of worry within her mocha eyes. "You've been glaring out the window all of class... Is something wrong...?" 

"What? Uh, n-no! Not at all, Anri!! I-I was just... Uh..." Damn, he didn't have a good explanation for her. She stared for a moment before she gave a soft smile, her eyes shyly looking away in that manner they usually did. 

"It's alright. You don't have to tell me. We all sometimes have things we on't want to talk about." 

"Yea... Thank you for understanding." Mikado stood, giving a polite bow before turning to collect his things. The mystery behind this girl was something Mikado didn't really know about, and it aggravated him to a point. She would always hint at secrets or something like that. Who knows. Maybe it was nothing... Why was it even bugging him? He seemed much more hostile today, even he himself had noticed that. Maybe it was due to the chat room he sat in last night, the name that kept looming on his mind and had no history behind it. He hated that he couldn't find out anything. He was just mad. So very mad. 

 "Anyways, Anri, is there anything you wanna do today?" He inquired, half biting his tongue for doing so. 

"Yea, I have plans to hang out with Mika and Seiji today..." 

"Oh. Well, that' alright. Have a good time and be careful!" He said cheerfully. He liked Anri. He really did, but he seriously was hoping she would deny is offers to hang out. He had a bit too much to do and handing out with someone would ultimately kill the amount of time he had left to get as much done as he could. 

He said 'goodbye' to Anri before they went their separate ways for the day. On his way back home, he couldn't stop thinking to himself about that name. Scorpio. So stupid, so childish. It seemed dumb to name yourself after a zodiac but the again, Mikado has seen several people named after animals with a mix of food and colors. People seriously needed more creativity in their personality. 

 He stopped. 

 

**_[Durarara!! OST - Voiceless Scream]_ **

 

Two roads, one going the fast way home and one going the slow way, the way he went when he found Orihara-san. He thought for a moment, that maybe he should just go home and continue his research. But then, he thought, he could spend his time searching for clues instead of staring at a computer screen for another four hours or more. If anything was still there, though he doubted it, he might get the upper hand in the situation. He could finally learn something and help Orihara-san in return. He could finally restore balance in this city that was too obviously lost without it's feeling of...

He took a step down the street, the right street, the street that would led him to the place... He walked, his eyes staring forward to not look too painfully suspicious, though he could't imagine why anyone would care in the first place. His pace was even, calm and collected yet his eyes searched for the correct alleyway, his head only turning to look down every one he came across. He couldn't exactly remember where this alley was and it would be harder to spot without a nearly dead information broker in the end of it. Perhaps there may have been bloodstains left but considering how curious the city was, a maintenance team had probably already cleaned up the mess. 

What was he doing? Wasting his time was what he was doing. He should be home, delving further into archives and other website records to see if he could figure out who this mystery person was, not wandering about on the streets looking for evidence that might not of been there. 

Again, he was known to speak too soon. Low and behold, an alley. Not just any alley, a dark alley, darker in some parts on the ground.

Bloodstains. 

He glanced around himself before slowly wandering down the alleyway, his heart suddenly quickening it's pace as he felt a sudden wave of excitement fill his lungs. He wanted to loudly exclaim that he found something, something that could maybe, potentially, change everything. But he swallowed his yells down, for he hadn't even really found anything yet. Like, at all. He bent down near the dry spots of blood, doing a _'hmmm...'_ noise as he looked around, his eyes slowly carrying over every inch of the ground as to not miss anything. At first, he couldn't find anything. It was a tad too dark and it took him a moment to remember something. On the ground that night, something was glinting in the light of a streetlamp... He pulled out his phone, turned it on and faced the screen towards the floor for a makeshift flashlight, his eyes quickly settling upon what he needed to see. The faint outline of a broken syringe...

He reached into his back, rummaging through it before pulling out a piece of paper. He didn't want to risk touching the syringe and erasing finger prints. He laid the paper down on the broken syringe, carefully, he picked up the thing to look at it, yet not to cut himself on it. slowly and almost expertly, he picked up the broken tool, turning his hand to properly look at it. The needle itself was very blunt and long. The base of the syringe was glass and broken, words etched onto it that he couldn't exactly make out in this dreadfully lighting, even with his phone close to the thing. He cussed to himself, carefully wrapping the needle in the paper and placing it safely in his bag. 

He'd look around a bit more, but unfortunately only found tufts of fake fur from Izaya's jacket as well as the raven haired males blood. And all that wasn't exactly helpful. He'd go home. He'd learn all he needed to learn, as it was meant for him to do so. He'd figure out everything and he'd fix it all. Everything would be under his control for the time being and no one could stop him. For the time being, he was invincible with this little bit of knowledge in his bag. 

And he liked it. 

 

\-------- _Ikebukuro Train/subway station, 8:45_ \----------

 

** _[Durarara!! OST -Their Aspirations]_ **

 

The boy is hesitating.

He's afraid of stepping off this train, yet the busy and frustrated people pushing at his back force him to step forward and take a slow walk into the station he's seen many times before. Yet, it's unfamiliar. He doesn't recognize these faces of confusion and anxiety. It reflects the cities inner insecurities and even a few of his own and it's a sight he does not like to look upon. He doesn't like it here. He's loved this city for four years, yet coming back to it, he's realized he truly doesn't like it. Maybe he never did. 

He's afraid, to be truthful. Afraid to see what this city has become of and why the atmosphere is so choking and overwhelming. The people around him look as nervous and detached as he feels. They live here. They spend their daily lives here and even they look like they don't want to be here. A sense of waiting and hesitance towards even talking to people they know and love is a cloud on their shoulders that he apparently can only see. It's a cloud of confusion, waiting, wanting. It's a cloud of ash, smothering the people they follow. It's unnatural, yet he can't say it's unprovoked. He felt the cloud one the way here. In fact, he saw it, this metaphorical cloud looming over the city, sitting quietly in the sky, unmoving. It doesn't even rumble with an intoxicated fervor like any storm cloud does. It just sits there, waiting to unleash it's on-pour of chaotic weather that he would dare to say the city is waiting for. They aren't prepared, but they want it. 

It's a deadly desire. It's a date with death, a contract signed in blood. Yet Masaomi can't help but want to pick up the pen. 

He remembers memories here. He remembers meeting his best friend, Mikado here when the younger boy first moved here. He remembers the excitement in his chest, the taste for adventure looming on his taste buds. He could see it was infectious as the night went, because eventually Mikado smiled. A smile that was embracing the oddities of this city like, Simon the Giant, Shizuo Heiwajima, the strongest man in Ikebukuro, Celty Sturluson, the dullahan, Izaya Orihara, the information broker and several, several more people in this city that made the place feel like home. And that's what Mikado felt. He felt at ease. he felt at home. Masaomi only wished he could feel the same. 

He felt alone here now. He felt forgotten. Left out. And it was something a crazy handsome guy with terrible jokes like him just didn't like. He liked to be out there, in the middle of it all, in the spotlight. He liked to be known. He wanted people to know he was there. But now, it was like the city hadn't even noticed he arrived. It moved on without him. His friends... They probably did the same. 

He had never felt such an overwhelming feeling of self doubt in his life before. Well, besides the incident with Saki, but that turned out to be a scam anyways. This new feeling from this new, possessed city was too strong, too strange and suffocating his lungs with an intoxicating sense of self-hatred he'd never experienced before/ From the looks of other people, they didn't feel nearly the same as he did. Perhaps this cloud affected everyone differently. 

Deciding that sitting down here, questioning his own worth and existence wasn't doing him any good. So, taking heavy steps through the seemingly thick air, he got on an escalator and exited the train station, making his way through the cluttered streets of eerily quiet and nervous people. It was the same up here, and it was as equally bothering him. He still didn't recognize anyone. Faces were maybe familiar, but it felt like they faces were fake, walking around on a body that didn't belong to them. The sudden wondering mind of his imagined, for some reason, people cutting off faces and wearing them around and the thought made his stomach quiver and do an uncomfortable flip in his abdomen and nearly caused him to stop and run to the nearest trashcan. He felt so vulnerable right now...

"Oi! Kida!! My eyes sore from not seeing you!!!" 

Simon!

His face lit up at a familiar voice, a familiar face not far down the street. He dashed to the dark skinned giant, panting when he reached him. He felt a grin spread across his face and he had to fight back some serious urges to hug the larger male as he stared up at him. "Simon, my man, just when I thought all the city has gone crazy!" 

"City is crazy! Not enough sushi, da?" 

Masaomi couldn't help but laugh. Still as optimistic about seafood as ever. "Nah, man, I don't think that's the problem." 

"I know. City feels empty. Like sushi bowl, but no satisfied customer. It was good sushi, now sushi gone, da?" 

"I guess," He supposed he agreed with Simon, but in a less fishy-er sense. "Do you know if anything's happened?" 

"No. Is problem. Nothing happen. City quiet. No ruckus from Shi-zu-o. Think it Izaya." Dammit. Masaomi was afraid he'd say that. 

"You think Izaya is behind this...?"

Simon turned to Masaomi, his arms raising about his head as he attempted to get his point across the smaller male. "No! Izaya not do single thing, da? Is problem. City like ruckus. Ruckus is city. Like sushi. Ruckus and sushi. All at Russian Sushi! Yes, is good! Eat sushi, have ruckus! Eat ruckus, have sushi!" 

Masaomi rubbed his forehead. This really wasn't helping in the slightest. When he opened his eyes, he saw a glint of something in the darkness not too far away. However, when he tried to look at it, it... Simply vanished. Maybe he was seeing things. He had a lot on his mind and he was probably wearing himself out from thinking so much. He felt a heavy pat on his shoulder, followed by Simon pushing him towards the shop. "Come, now, eat sushi! Belly full, Kida better! Is proven fact, da?"

 

 

 

He sighed, adjusting his sunglasses. He pulled out his phone, quickly pulling up a number one could identify as his boss. He dialed the number, bringing the device to his ear and listening to the ringer. After a few seconds, there was a dull click. 

"Sir, he's in town."

"Which one?"

"The Yellow Scarves leader. Should I apprehend him?"

"No. You'll scare him too much. Watch him for now, learn about him. I want to know where the main place he and his buddies meet up. I know he's nervous. Who wouldn't be, after all? This city..." The man on the other end trailed off for a moment before returning to what he was saying. "Introduce yourself eventually. Cozy up to him. Once he's comfortable, you know what to do."

"Yes, sir." 

"Now get back to work, Kensaku." _Click._

The man put his phone back into his pocket, huffing and giving the Russian Sushi place one last glance before exiting the small alley way he hid in, wandering down the street a ways. How could anyone like that place? Fish was disgusting. It had the texture of a dead baby, and don't ask how he knew. He sighed, running a hand through his bright blond hair, a sigh rolling out of his mouth as he stared up at the sky for a brief moment. The stars seemed brighter tonight. 

"This is gonna be a pain..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The apartment scene was intentionally short. There wasn't much to cover right then and there. Sorry this one is short in general, been a bit busy with real life stuff. Apologies.


	4. You Don't Know Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter really fucking sucks. I rushed it, it's repetitive, it's poorly written and it's just pure garbage just like Shizaya. 
> 
> I guess they were just meant to be.
> 
> Tell me how bad this chapter is in the comments, please, I deserve it.

Kensaku Shinjitsu was always an odd boy. That phrase could be said by many adults and they're usually wrong or right, depending on what they perceived as 'odd', but in Kensaku's case, it was true. What made him odd in a sense could be listed as a number of things.

To start it off, he didn't like his name. His whole, technical name was 'Kensaku no-Shinjitsu', which would technically translated to '検索の真実 - Search of Truth' if you added the appropriate 'no' to his last name. But he didn't like to do that. In fact, he didn't like his whole first name, either. He preferred to be called 'Ken' or 'Saku.' His little sister, Ukeire Shinjitsu (who's name roughly translated to 'Accepting/Accepted truth', depending on how it was spelled) often called him 'Kenny-nii' or 'Kenny' just to piss him off. Though, it never really did, no matter how hard she tried. 

You see, Ken didn't like anything that was too easy. 

He loved challenges. He loved finding things out the hard way, taking the treacherous path when executing things, just generally liked to find where his limitations were. That's why he didn't really like his name, nor his sisters, if he was perfectly honest. His name meant 'Search of Truth,' which was something he was often doing, looking for answers. The Truth. His little sister, Ukeire, well... She was too accepting. She accepted everything for what it was and that attitude gave her an outward cheerfulness that Ken both admired and loathed. Sure, he loved his sister. They grew up together. She was only two years younger than him and they were still as close as ever. They'd chat on the phone every now and then, mostly about their lines of work. Ukeire went into a teaching profession, as she always enjoyed children and had a brilliant mind that was capable to do so. She even got herself a boyfriend not too long ago, though Ken doesn't remember his name. Her life, right name, was perfect. It was calm, docile, the star studded life you see on tv. Yet, in the end and in reality...

Her life... Was too easy. 

She had no challenges. In fact, the only challenge she'd probably ever face would be whether or not she could make it to the store with enough time to spare to get to her yoga classes or whatever she did on her free times. It was just. Too. _Easy. K_ en knew from the start what he wanted to be, yet he couldn't put a label on it. His aspirations bore a name tag everyday and everyday, he was straining to read it. He had quite a few ideas, however. Mostly due to reading manga and watching anime for about four years of his life up until he took up sports. And even then, it wasn't enough.

The hero's in his manga would face challenges and eventually overcome them. They didn't have to try. Too easy. 

The sports he played were so feeble and easy to complete that even the sight of an A+ on his athletics exam mad him mad. It was too easy. Math texts, English, art-- EVERYTHING. He wanted challenges. he wanted his mind to struggle, he wanted to be so frustrated, he'd contemplate quitting. He wanted to be so stumped, it took him a year or two to figure out exactly what to do.

You could say... He wanted to be surprised. One day, he was.

It was out of no where in high school, his final year to be exact. A group of boys with their ego's as big as their overly exaggerated angry eyes came strolling up to Ken, fists clenches and teeth grinding against themselves. They badgered Ken, called him a usual insult that he was used to by then, which was being 'gay for his scraggly bright hair and blue eyes' as well as being called a nerd and an over-achiever with no life. It was then that they picked a fight, the main guy of the sad little group stepping forward, his hair dyed all red and his face so damn cocky as he grinned and spit right on Ken's face. Although flattered, Ken wiped away the strangers DNA and gave a him a calm expression before, not to boast or anything, knocking the guy flat on his ass with one punch. Ken wasn't usually a fighter. However, his mother was overprotective and worried, so she signed Ken and his sister up for a self-defense class. He knew a few things or two and that's what gave him the upper hand for the moment.

For the moment. 

Ken obviously and proudly got his ass kicked. After all, he was outnumbered, had never been in a true fight and the dumb self-defense classes were cheap, so a group attack wasn't included in the lessons. So, with the sun to his back as he walked home from school that day, his cheek stinging and his right eye swollen shut and bruised, he trudged home. Smirking. It was a challenge that he could not overcome and that excited him to no end. The taste of blood in his mouth, the idea that he lost only made him strive to get better, to work hard at it. A work ethic was a proper way to a stronger mind and a clearer intent. And as he thought to himself on the way home, he found his hunger for domination over his enemies growing in his belly like the flames of a forest fire grazing on bails of hay. 

That's when he met his employer. His boss. Mr. Sutinga.

 

** _[Durarara!! OST [Vol.1] On Tuesday Night]_ **

 

Mr. Sutinga approached him the day after at the end of school, saying to Ken that kid that he managed to knock out cold with one punch was his cousin's kid. Although Ken never really confirmed that to be a fact, he listened to the strange man anyways as he brought up a proposition Kenny couldn't deny. 

"You like danger," He observed, his index finger and thumb stroking his scruffy goatee as a smile curved onto his face. "That's something I like, kid. That's the spirit I once had, y'know? And I need that kind of spirit on my team. I know I sound like a weirdo, but I am sincerely a man looking out for your well being~" 

". . ." Ken stared at the man, this stranger who approached him outside of school just to ramble. It was an oddity he'd never truly encountered before, to the point where Ken considered maybe turning heel and getting away as fast as he could. What if this guy was a pedophile? That was a challenge he wasn't eager to face. Even so, he continued to listen to this guy, his blue eyes wandering from time to time to observe anyway he could get out, anywhere he could find to be a suitable escape. The only way was really turning all the way around and bolting, which would slow him down by at least two percent. And even though that was a challenge, he had no idea who this man was or what he intended. He might have to pull off something risky...

"Wondering if you should trust me?" Ken seemed taken aback as his focus returned to Mr. Sutinga, the tall male still wearing that smirk on his face. Ken had a sudden itch to slap it off his face but refrained from doing so. "I would trust me, Kensaku. I'm a business man who also happens to have some muscle. The very muscle that happened to save your sister today."

Ken made a surprised face, sudden fear and anger welling in his chest as his eyes widened. "What are you talking about?! What did you do to her?!?" His fists clenched and he grit his teeth together at the sound of Mr. Sutinga laughing at his response.

"I did nothing, Kensaku. As I said, I saved her. My men and I have been watching you for a while and, to compensate, we kept an eye on your sister. She was being harassed today by a man eager to get her to do more than buy some of his merchandise. Luckily, we got there in time before anything bad happened." Sutinga explained, his smile not fading, thought it lessened considerably. Ken couldn't help but distrust him. He demanded to see his sister that second, and to his surprise, he was given what he asked. Sutinga allowed him in his car and they drove off to see his sister. When they arrived at where she was located, a little ways outside her school, Ken felt relieved to see that she was ok. She was just talking to friends... she was alright...

"You see, Kensaku, I only want to help you. You're lost and I can see that. You have a great amount of abilities and power and you have no idea how to use it. But," Sutinga reached over to the boy, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder and giving a sincere face. "I do."

That's where it launched off. To others, it may have seemed fool hearty. What if Mr. Sutinga was lying? And so what if he was? Ken could see the opportunities ahead of him like an oncoming truck. The danger, the fun... The challenge. He couldn't help buy agree and join Mr. Sutinga. From then on, he went under the mans wing, aspired after him, learned from him. Learned all he could all while encountering challenges he'd never faced before, all of them causing adrenaline to run through his veins and make his heart try to bust out of his ribs with a metaphorical hammer. And he loved every second of it.

So now, Ken wondered, why did the challenges suddenly become so _dull?_

His job now was probably the most boring job he had ever had in his entire time of working under Sutinga, was the thought that ran through his mind as he strolled through the busy streets of Ikebukuro, a drink in one hand and his phone in the other, his thumb making quick work of scrolling through several different websites. Follow a kid. Watch that kid. Cozy up to the kid.

Take that kid.

Yay. So very fucking challenging.

Actually...

Now that he began to think about it, this kid wasn't any normal kid. He was apparently the leader of a gang that used to run it big in Ikebukuro. This kid has apparently been through some shit. Maybe he'll even put up a fight. A _deadly_ fight even.

Now _that_ was a challenge he was willing to live up to.

 

 

\---------- _Shizuo's Apartment, 10:35 am_ \------------

 

 _Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit._  

He takes a swig of his third milk bottle and ends up draining it. Out of irritation and satisfaction, he grabs another bottle just after almost smashing the first into pieces on the kitchen table. 

_Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, God-fucking-mother-fucker-cunt-dammit._

He gets another bottle of milk and rips the top off. He drinks it all down again and goes for another, repeating the process at least twice. 

 _Dammit,_   _dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, Fuck-ass-son-of-a-bitch-I-fucking-hate-everything-AUGH._

There's eight empty bottles of milk on the table and he doesn't have anymore. He's still thirsty, though, as if his anger was so hot, it was leaving him with cotton mouth and a scratchy throat. He opted for the water bottles in the fridge, opening one up and chugging it down in such a messy fashion that streams of leaked water runs down the heated flesh of his neck and chin. He keeps drinking until the bottle empties and crushes under the weight of him sucking so hard. He decides to ignore how perverted that sounds as he slams the crushed plastic onto the table and cracks open yet another water bottle. 

_Why? Why me? Out of all the people in the world, why me?_

As he's drinking the next bottle, he spills more and ends up getting his t shirt wet. It doesn't bother him because it's just a sleep shirt anyway. Not like he got sleep in the first place at all. Not with _it_ here. That disgusting thing that didn't even deserve a name, it was so vile. 

_They could have kept them at their place. Why mine? Bodyguard my ass, I'll kill him before I ever guard his life. I don't trust him. Nope. Never. He's too risky. He'll get up one night and try to cut my throat while I'm sleeping, I know it. Well, I won't sleep. Nope. I'll stay awake and watch his scheming ass..._

_..._

_...That sounds a little weird..._

He took a break from drinking, setting the empty water bottle on the table as he attempted to catch his breath. Who knew re-hydration was so exhausting? 

_...I wonder if he sleeps? No. He must stay up all night and plan things, evil things... But humans need sleep, don't they? Fleas don't. That's all he is. a flea._

He opens up another water bottle and drinks it slow this time, letting his mind wander. He didn't really want it to, what with what it was thinking about, but it had already gone to far by now. He hated thinking about that bastard Izaya for more than a minute. Though, he had to admit, he did it anyways. He often wondered if he should see a therapist about dreaming about ripping the raven haired males spine out of his nose and gauging out that fuckers eyeballs. The thought makes him laugh. 

_...I wonder what he looks like when he's sleeping..._

He chokes at his own thought and has to quickly move to the kitchen to basically vomit all that water he just drank. It comes out just as cold as it went in and he shivers at the feeling, coughing into the sink violently. That thought _really_ didn't seem like his own. In fact, it sounded weird, as if he had said it aloud because he heard his own voice, very loud and distinctly as well. He remains bent over the sink as he recovers, taking the time to let his body decide if it wanted to flush out that disgusting thought with a side of eight bottles worth of milk before standing up straight and rubbing his forehead. He had a headache... 

"Impressive, Shizu-chan." Came the sleepy and fairly weak voice from none other than the origin of everything bad, including Shizuo's headache. Shizuo huffs, looking towards Izaya, his hands clenching as he imagined pushing that flea up against a wall and choking the life out of him, watching the light leave those annoyingly intrusive eyes and hearing his strangled breath choke out of those soft lips. Wait, what? 

"What do you want." Shizuo says harshly, grinding his teeth. He's not physically allowed to do anything to the flea, per Celty's request. He was told to actually _protect_ the flea, if that made any sense at all, until he either got better or this whole situation finally stopped and Ikebukuro got on track. He'd like to say he didn't know what that meant but he's have to be an idiot to think so. 

"Nothing, Shizu-chan," He almost purred out, moving a hand to support himself against the nearby wall. He looks like shit, Shizuo admits, but he looked much worse last night. On the was to Shinra's, the flea suddenly went quiet in the middle of a conversation that Shizuo really couldn't remember the topic of. Arriving at Shinra's, he began to take on that pale appearance and didn't even say a word. After Shinra got him properly assessed again, the flea basically collapsed onto a couch and wouldn't wake up. Shizuo took a sigh of relief then, as he though the asshole was finally dead, but when Shinra said he merely blacked out due to lack of digesting anything, that toppled onto Izaya's odd habit of ignoring meals as told by Shinra, Shizuo drew that sigh back in and saved it for later. One day.

Debate when on, whether or not to take the informant to the hospital was a heated topic than ran for an hour as said flea rested on the couch. Shinra and Celty both agreed that it wasn't safe to leave Izaya in a hospital by himself and Shizuo merely didn't give a shit. That's when Celty said that Shizuo needed to protect the informant. 

A loud argument happened after that and Shizuo really couldn't remember most of it. All he knew now was that Izaya was now standing in his kitchen. It was really annoying.

"I was merely heading to the restroom and noticed you in here slamming down anything liquid~" 

"I was thirsty." 

"Obviously."

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Shizuo spat with venom cornering the edges of his words. He wouldn't let concern cover them like a blanket. Even if he was concerned, it was because he had a heart-ish- and would rather the flea suffer at his own hands than that of whatever was wrong with him. 

"I'll be going back there in a moment. I have to use the bathroom, I said. I imagine you will soon as well~" He said, walking away from the kitchen rather slowly. Shizuo noticed easily that the fleas legs were shaking. He doubted it was cold, as it was a nice sixty-eight degrees outside. He must still be weak from everything. Seeing such a weakness on such a person was a little unsettling to Shizuo. It didn't help that he had to carry the flea to his home and put him in the spare bedroom. Izaya was awake for barely three hours when they got to the powerful man's apartment and even when he was, he barely registered anything at all. his skin was pale white and his eyes were barely open. Shizuo had called Shinra for guidance by then and when the doctor said to check for a fever, Shizuo was hesitant but sure enough, as he put his hand against the fleas forehead, his skin was burning hot. 

_"He's really, really hot." He had said, grinding his teeth at laughter that came from the other end of the line._

_"Confessing?"_

_"Shut up. What do I do?"_

_"Do you have any ibuprofen?" Shinra suggested calmly, seemingly unaffected by whatever illness had overtaken the flea._

_"Yea. You want me to give him that?"_

_"Yes. Make him take it with water-" Shinra hesitated, giggling for a moment and Shizuo didn't bother to interrupt, as he was pretty positive Shinra had something else to say._

_"Make sure he swallows!" Click. What a pervert._

_He grumbled the whole way to the bathroom as he got ibuprofen for the flea, wondering why he was even bothering to help Izaya in the first place and even grumbled on the way back. When he walked in, he sighed heavily at the sight of Izaya lying down again. Izaya would just lay down in almost defeat whenever Shizuo would leave the room or look away for two minutes. Sure, he might have been trying to rest, but Shizuo was doing what he was told to do. Take care of him. as much as he didn't want to. Even though this was Izaya and he hated the man with every fiber of his being, he was glad that, before he started laying down in attempts to seemingly curl up and die, he managed to get food into his stomach. It was the most awake he had been, as Shizuo had previously intended to feed him himself but the stubborn flea insisted that he could do it. And he did. It was right after he finished eating that the laying down and the shaking began. Shizuo had guessed it was because his body was finally given food and was a tad too excited by the fact._

_He set the cap that carried the pills as well as the water bottle on the table next to the bed as he sat on the mattress beside Izaya's shaky legs, his hand cautiously but sternly resting on the informants shoulder and giving him a tiny shake. He was really cold..._

_"Oi, flea..." He didn't receive a response at first, which worried the blond for some reason. Izaya was so cold and still, Shizuo literally began to think that the smaller male was literally dead, that his body had just given out and completely shut down. It was extremely hard to admit that he was relieved when Izaya opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him._

_"Shizu..."_

_"Shut up. Sit up, you need to take some pills."_

_"Why...?" He managed. Barely._

_"You have a fever, flea. C'mon."_

_Izaya visibly had trouble sitting up so the stronger man helped him, slowly pulling him up  and waiting until he was stable until he gave the pills and water to the flea. As he took them, Shizuo couldn't help but suddenly cringe at a smell he wondered how he didn't notice before. The flea smelt of vomit and sweat and it was just a nasty combo. Not really wanting to get that smell all over his house, he told Izaya to stay awake before leaving the room, going into his own room to fish out a shirt he barely wore anymore as well as some shorts. Both would be too big on the flea but they smelled better than what he was wearing. When he returned, he noticed the flea was a bit more awake than before, even taking a longer drink of the water. Perhaps he was simply dehydrated..._

_"Flea," He said, moving over to the informant stiffly. "Put these on."_

_"Why...?"_

_"You smell disgusting."_

_Izaya blinked in confusion before gripping his own shirt, lifting it to his nose and smelling it. He looked away sharply, making a face. "You're right... Can I use Shizu-chan's shower...?"_

_"Excuse me."_

_"Can I shower?"_

_After about three minutes of standing there, deciding whether or not it was safe to do so, Shizuo eventually helped the male stand up and guided him to the bathroom, was was insanely embarrassing for him considering the flea wouldn't let go of his fucking hand and Shizuo kept telling himself not to do anything. He was told not to. He had to behave. He left Izaya to his own devices, choosing to watch tv until the flea got out of the bathroom. He nearly fell asleep waiting for him, as he was fairly tired himself. When he glanced at the clock, he noticed it was almost midnight by now. He'd been around the flea for longer than he ever had before and something about that really pissed him off. Not enough to do anything about it apparently._

_When Izaya was done, he didn't even tell Shizuo. He was already exhausted and simply collapsed back into the guest bed, falling asleep in almost an instant, Shizuo's shirt nearly reaching his knee's and warming him a bit. Even so, Shizuo decided to give into the hospitable side of himself and give Izaya a nice, warm and thick blanket to sleep under. When he did, the informant stopped shaking and slept peacefully through the night. Or, at least Shizuo assumed he did. After giving the flea the blanket, he went to bed himself and fell asleep rather quickly for someone who was too paranoid about the male in the other room to think it was dangerous to let him shower._

Thinking about it left Shizuo wondering why he agreed to do this, why any of this was happening. He was beginning to grow suspicious, to be honest. Shinra suggested several times that what was causing Izaya's attacks was a disease that hadn't been discovered but as wonderful as that sounded, it was highly improbable. He'd never even seen the flea with a cold before. A runny nose from a fairly cold night was about it but otherwise, the informant always seemed so... Invincible. Now that all of this was happening to him and how it was changing the world around him was just so remarkable in a sense that probably no one thought it would ever happen. The fact that there was no answer or reason was what probably bothered Shizuo the most. 

The tall blond was draw out of his thoughts as Izaya entered the kitchen fully this time, still in Shizuo's shirt and shorts to boot. He looked a little better and probably felt that way, too, after relieving himself, even though the powerful man would never admit that outwardly. When the informant stepped a tad too close, the blond took a cautious step back. Noticing this, Izaya gave a smile, albeit a little weak apart from his usual devious grin. It made Shizuo uncomfortable anyways. 

"What's the matter, Shizu-chan~?" 

"Stop calling me that. My name is Shizuo Heiwajima, you annoying flea." 

"So much anger towards a defenseless person like myself... How inhospitable." Izaya shook his head, clicking his tongue as he rested a hand on the table to support himself. Still weak, Shizuo noted. 

"In hospitable?! I let you in my home, let you wear my clothes, give you food and a bed to sleep in, I let you _shower!"_

"You say that as if you wouldn't given different circumstances." 

"I wouldn't! At least not to you!! I don't even know why I haven't just put you down like the disgusting rat you are!!!" He slammed a hand on the table, some of the empty milk bottles falling over with a clink, rolling a bit too close to the edge of the table. Shizuo was thankfully quick enough to catch them and prevent and accident and even though he almost broke the damn things in his hand, he managed to get them in the trashcan, only leaving them with mild cracks. 

Izaya watched in an amused fashion, a smile still painted on his face as his nearly red eyes watching the powerful mans actions. He seemed a little too calm to be so close to the very person he ran from day after day, one who could have easily killed him just last night or simply left him for dead. He contemplated this, wondering why he didn't do so in the first place. Even though he was so exhausted last night that he could barely keep sitting up for long, he somehow managed to store all of what happened into his ill memory. Every detail, every single time he found it hard to keep his eye open and every time he was almost silently reprimanded by Shizuo himself not to fall asleep while he was eating was surreal to him for some reason. Being so close to someone who wanted him dead, who was actually taking care of his barely functioning body, it was... Humiliating, if he were to be completely honest.

But then again, how could he have really done something? He used all the strength he gained from eating to shower so he didn't smell as vile as he felt. He didn't think he could last long in a fight with him, not last night or now. His belly still ached and it hurt to bend over too much. Thinking about this, his mind began to wander back to the visit he had in his apartment. He remembered little, mostly key parts that he was supposed to remember most of all. The bug, the remote, not telling anyone... 

How Dokubari wanted all of these people he's connected with as pawns. _His_ pawns. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the linoleum floor of the kitchen, his fingers clenching a bit. How dare this stranger threaten his life, threaten to take his pawns? There were a choice few he could give up with no problem. The monster, the rider and the Saika girl- useless. They've already proven so. Though, he would still regret loosing Celty to anyone. Not for some cliched fact that he was in love with her or anything, more that he still had her head and still had plenty of time to make the head open it's eyes to see a bloody battle ground. He hoped once the Valkyrie awoke and scanned the ground that would hopefully be full of bodies, it would see him and take him off to heaven, just as she was meant to. He found it a tad funny, that he was an atheist and yet he still would rather go to heaven. If he were to go to hell, fine, he could torment the people there. But in heaven, maybe he could be recognized and nominated into the god he knew he was. The God of Ikebukuro had a nice ring to it. 

But the others... They were humans.  _His_ humans. He would be damned if he'd let anyone take them away from him. They were his and...

 

**It seems simple that he would think that way, doesn't it? That he so desperately cherishes humans and yet he despises a man who is visibly normal but possesses such 'monster' like qualities.**

"Oi, flea. Flea?" The tall man snaps his fingers a few times, as if trying to attract the attention of a dog with ADD.

**He doesn't hate him as much as he wants people to think. Neither does the other one for now.**

Izaya's eyes jumped to Shizuo, carrying an odd form of surprise behind them for a strange reason. He forced his smile back on his face, tilting his head. "Yes, Shizu-chan~?" 

 **They're both curious about each other, sparing and respecting one another's space for the simple act of observing.**  

"You spaced out. What are you planing?" 

"Nothing, Shizu-chan. I was simply wondering if I'd be able to fall back asleep is all~" He left the kitchen to leave Shizuo to his own devices, silently hoping the monster would drink so much that he'd somehow manage to drown. His steps were slow and wobbly, but he managed to reach his room. He stares at the bed he slept in last night, gawking at it emotionless before his gaze carried to the window to his left. 

**It comes easy for him, though. He's done it all his life and this is simply just another day of him being him. But even as someone who's watched over the lives of others with the watchful eyes of an eagle and the wisdom of a monk, even he doesn't know all and he misses almost everything.**

He makes his way to the window, opening it and leaning out of it a bit, his palms resting against the windowsill as his eyes scan the ground beneath him. He doesn't really recognize this side of town, as he doesn't go around it much. Even though the sidewalks are foreign and the signs don't mean much to him, he see's the faces of people he's seen further in the city and the thought makes him smile. His nearly red eyes drift along the few amount of people wandering the sidewalks and they settle upon a high schooler he hasn't really seen before. He remembers Ryuugamine and his smile only widens. 

**He can read the outward expressions of peoples faces like the cover of a book. Their thoughts are simply pages that he can flip through and highlight like a student studying avidly for an exam. However, inner feelings are a mystery to him, something he's been trying to master the understanding of for years. He can't find the key to unlocking those mysteries and it frustrates him much more than he lets on.**

Ryuugamine is such a funny kid, he thinks. So carefree and naive on the outside, but surprising on the inside. He finds himself frowning at the reminder that he almost never exactly sure what that boy will do next. Just like that damn creature that's doting over him like a house wife for some God awful reason that he can't conjure up.

**One of those keys, I believe, lies within that Heiwajima. I'm sure he knows it, too, which is why he's been preferring to watch him. Why he's not doing anything about being so close to him now. He's comfortable where he is, only because the answers are so close.**

 

 

"If you want my honest opinion, I really think that he's taken to Heiwajima-san. He thinks about him, talks about him, plans to ruin almost everything that goes on in his life. He likes to think that it's hatred over that man. I think it's infatuation." 

"And how is this helpful to us, Miss Namie?" The man asks as he strokes his goatee, a pondering expression on his rough face. His leg is crossed over the other and he's reclined against the couch in Izaya's apartment. It's very cozy in here, he's realized through his time being here. He thinks he'll move in here when that brat decides to give up a throne he doesn't even deserve. 

"It's helpful to you because Izaya-san doesn't really get attached to anyone. He values a package of pencils more than his own sisters. But with Heiwajima-san," She said as as she set down her tea cup, her hair falling off of her shoulders. She's honestly more comfortable with this man in her company than Izaya. Maybe it's because that skinny asshole was annoying to hear and unbearable to serve under. This man has only asked for a cup of coffee, where as Izaya would have given her massive stacks of papers to go over and made her clean his apartment. Again. This was a nice change of pace. "I've noticed that things he does get attached to, like humans, he won't shut up about. I don't think he notices that he mumbles about Heiwajima-san when he's on the computer." 

"You've mentioned that he often speaks about a boy... Ryuugamine, correct? The Dollars leader? Is he not infatuated with him?" 

"Not in the same way. Ryuugamine always surprises him, which annoys him and causes him to pursue him in an act of searching for a reason why he can't get inside the mind of a high schooler. Heiwajima-san is predictable. He can almost always tell what he'll do next and for some odd reason, even though he can get into Heiwajima-san's mind as simply as opening a soda can, he's chosen to continue his obsession over him. I've thought about it for a while, wondered if maybe it's because of their history, but..." She goes silent for a moment as she remembers something- more or less, someone- that both heats her belly and puts anger in her heart. "He acts similar to my brother."

"The one with the obsession for the Dullahan's head?" 

"Indeed. Izaya constantly thinks about Heiwajima-san, just like Seiji thinks about the head. It's unhealthy, unrealistic... And probably the worst romance possibly imagined." 

"'Worst romance'? You say that as if the brat is in love with that man," Sutinga says as he sits forward, a grin etching onto his scarred face. He removes his sunglasses for the time to reveal his blue eyes, his fingers folding the accessory and placing them within the pockets of his suit, his favorite suit, mind you. Surely the brat can't feel that way about someone so terrifying, he's considered a monster? This girl can't possibly believe it. 

"I wouldn't hold it against him." 

Never mind, then. His cocky expression changed pretty quickly and Namie took his expression as both confusion and non-belief. 

"Izaya-san 'loves' humans, but he's never let anyone 'love' him. I really think that if someone were to fall in love with him, someone he barely knew, he's laugh in their face and say that he's not interested. But if you pretend for a moment that Heiwajima-san were to suddenly go insane or something and realize he was in love with Izaya as well as tell him, Izaya would hesitate, fall silent and actually think about he feels in return. He would have to _think_ about how he feels about Shizuo because I think he doesn't even realize that he's in love with a monster." 

"Beauty and The Beast. Not so much beauty, either. But, Namie, my dear," He said, irritation overriding his curiosity for a moment. "This isn't all that helpful to assume my throne and ensure the brat doesn't have a chance at getting it back." 

  
"It's quite simple, actually," She insists, a sudden smile appearing on her face. "If you give him a break and manage to keep the two in a controlled environment in which they'll have no other choice but to question their feelings for each other, they'll be to preoccupied to assess the matters of you messing around with your other targets. They'll be lost in each others eyes, distracted and vulnerable. Once you take down whoever else you need, you can tear them apart, adding salt to the wound."

He smile in return, seeming to catch onto what she was saying. He stood, giving a light chuckle as he moved to the windows that took up most of the wall in the apartment, his arms folded neatly behind his back.

"Indeed, it would be heart wrenching. I could assure my place won't be stolen if I give him an ultimatum of losing his love or his spot in the world of metaphoric yet literal Gods." He looked over his shoulder, humming a bit as he looked over Namie who seemed to shift a bit uncomfortably at his fairly perverted gaze. "You are a clever vixen, miss Namie. But why, might I ask, betray your employer?"

The woman huffed as she looked away, her eyes taking the moment to glance about in search of something she'd been looking for for quite a long time. "I have my own reasons. But if you absolutely need one, then accept the answer that his mannerisms drive me insane." 

As if. Well, to be honest, it was true. Izaya drove her insane almost ever single day she spent in this massive apartment. But the reason why she truly wanted to get Izaya out of the way lay inside of a jar hidden somewhere in this maze of a home. Seiji was getting too comfortable with both the head and the bitch, Mika. If she was to ensure that her brother would finally love her, both of them would eventually have to leave her  and her brothers life. She simply wanted his happiness... 

Besides, seeing Izaya squirm like a bug and get knocked down a few pegs was something she would indeed pay to see. 

"Very well." Dokubari went back to the silence he had assumed when he came in this apartment, a smile creasing his chapped lips again as his blue eyes scanned the city in front of him. So many things he could do in so little time. He began to wonder when he should press that amusing button again and the reaction the monster would give to it. He then wondered if the monster even cared for the brat at all. If anything, he could allow the blond to kill the bastard himself. That would basically make his entire plan one of the easiest things he could imagine. 'Drive them together,' she says. Driving them apart seemed much more plausible. And, much more deadly. For now, though, he would wait. Once he had that Masaomi kid, everything could start moving on it's own like a tire rolling downhill. He merely hoped he could keep up and see all the way to the end.

Blood covered tires are much more easier explained if you witness where the stains came from.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Namie ships it more than you do. 
> 
> This chapter is bad because Ketsu is ruining my life. I hope it'll be better next time. Forgive me for now.  
> Also, thank you for the kind comments and all the Kudo's. It means a lot to me. See you guys next time.


	5. Update

...

So...

Here's the thing. I'm really not sure if anyone is enjoying this fic or not. After reading over it again and trying for literal months to think of what to put in the next chapter, I've come up with nothing and even now, I have no idea what to add to this story. I had such a clear idea of what I wanted when I started this but after thinking about all of the facts and possibilities, I realized that this story... Really kind of sucks. I probably should have realized it sooner but given the fact that Ketsu had been dealing out episodes faster than I could keep up with, I slowly began to lose interest in this story.

If I'm not making any sense, I'm sorry. I'll be blunt; this fic might not continue. If you guys want to read what is already here, I'll leave it up. But if not, It'll mot likely be deleted within one or two weeks.

I apologize if you enjoyed this story. I just have no interest in continuing it. I have other ideas in my head that I'll be sorting out properly before starting on a whim, so if you guys would be so kind as to be patient with me, I'll be sure to start a new story as soon as I can. I'll go ahead and share it considering I've almost completely pieced this fic together and it's almost ready to start. It's literally just copy and paste, I'm too lazy to sort it out. 

 

\----------------------

**Title** : Suleykaar Mun Ko Keizaal

**Fandom** : Durarara!!/Skyrim

**Pairings** : Shizaya ( Possible )

**Characters** : All

**Additional Tags** : Skyrim, blood, fighting, gore, magic, adventure, fun, Dragonbornzuo, If you think I’m sorry for this you’re wrong

**Plot** : Shizuo awakens in an ancient Nordic land without any memory or idea as to how he’s gotten there, tied up and heading for the execution block. Reduced to feeble strength he’d never felt before, he wonders if perhaps this is a dream. After a monster as black as the night sky manages to save him unintentionally, he discovers this false and begins his quest to find his way home. He travels along the plains, searching for his lost strength and discovering a sacred power within him as well as new secrets to the world he’d never known before. Along the way, he finds himself frustrated as he spies familiar faces who don’t seem to know him at all.

Tangled in a world of magic, strength in words, Dragons, zombies and all sorts of creatures he’d never seen before, he finds himself enveloped in the new environment, as well as finding his memories of Ikebukuro beginning to disappear with every passing day. As time goes by, he begins to question if he’ll ever see the city he grew up with, as well as the people, ever again.

Or if he even wants to.

\----------------------

If you like the idea, leave a comment on what you think if you want to. If you'd like to contribute to the fanfic and you know Skyrim, give me some quests from the game to make Shizuo try to complete. The catch is they can't affect the main story-line too majorly. For example... I'll try to avoid the Companions questline as much as I can. The Dragonborn and Vampire DLC's are off limits, as they're potential future fics. 

 

Thank you and have a wonderful day/evening/night. ~Muddy


	6. A Kind Reminder.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems Izaya has forgotten something.

_"I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you so much!"_

  
  
_"Why must you be this way?"_

  
  
_"There was no need for that."_  
  


 

_"Why can't you be normal?"_

 

 

 _"Why would anyone take the time for a **villain** like you?" _  
  


**There's no point in trying to run. But you already know that.**  
  


_"You know, you really are awful."_  
  
_"Drop dead."_  
  
_"It wouldn't be much of a loss if you left. Considering all you've done."_  


**There's no point in trying to keep them safe. Why you even want to is beyond me.**

**Do _you_ even know?**

 

Cold sweat is beading down his face despite the relatively warm atmosphere. His body is shaking and he can't sit still. He can't open his eyes. He can't make the voices stop. Why won't they stop, why won't they leave him be, why won't _he_ leave him be?  


**You may think you're safe, there in that house with the blonde man. You can think that he'll protect you, if you're willing to delude yourself that much.**

**You're not.**

 

He fists his sheets, face scrunched up into some phantom agony that he's not sure he can even feel. His stomach is aching, his body is rigid and sore. _Stop, stop..._

 

**I'm coming for you.**

**And I won't stop...  
Until you're mine.**

 

His breathing labors and he's kicking at this point, trying to get this invisible force off of him as some image dances in his head, a dark figure probing and cutting into his belly and he can't stop it no matter how hard he tries. He can't scream. His voice has been stolen. He can feel blood everywhere, feel it soak his clothes and the sheets and it's sticky. His pleading continued to go unanswered. Not like the shadow can hear him. Not like they care. 

**They don't.**

He wasn't asking. 

 **You want them to. You think if you keep them safe, you regain your dominance and give those people a reason to love you but you're still just a disgusting bug they'd sooner wipe off their shoe than save. And you know it.**  


He's hoping that the voice is wrong. He can see them, all of them, all the people that bastard wanted, the Dullahan, the bartender, the gang leaders, all staring at him. Watching the shadow eviscerate him. Watching him die. He reaches out to them but the all turn their backs in unison. And they walk away.

_Don't go..._

**They don't care.**

_Please, it hurts..._

**They don't want you. You made it this way.**

_Please..._

**All of this is your fault. And you know it. You reap what you sew, Orihara. You made them hate you, and now, you must return the favor.**

**Hand them over.**

**They don't need you.**

**So why do you want to save them?**

 

Izaya has no response. He watches them all walk away like he were a run over coyote, his organs being scooped out and set neatly to the side, his blood drained and leaving his body as white as paper. He can't feel his own heartbeat and he cannot breathe but the pain is everywhere. He can't take it. 

 

**You're going to die, Orihara.**

**He doesn't want to.**

**If you do not cooperate, you will die.**

 

Slowly... Ever so slowly... The shadow forms a mouth filled with sharp, needle teeth and lowers it's head. Then, it begins to eat him.

 

**You did this to yourself. You'll get yourself out of it.**

 

**Or you let your pride consume you.**

 

He watches in shock, unable to comprehend the fear that grips his remaining body. His lower half is already gone. 

 

**You have four weeks.**

 

Soon, he is just a head. A metaphor for what he had stolen long ago. A memento of what he could have to pay for the price of war. A war he had been to eager to wage since the other disembodied head came into his possession.

 

 

**You will not escape.**

 

 

_~~**You're mine, Orihara.** ~~ _

 

 

Izaya awakens with a start, a breath drawing in a hand bolting to his chest to feel his racing heart beating behind his intact ribcage that rises and falls with his panicked lungs. His auburn eyes, beautiful and shining underneath the grim moonlight that casts a gentle light over his unsettled form, race around the room to find that shadow, to make sure it was gone. To make sure it was never really there. The words ring over and over in his head until, after he settles, the voice turns into a dull ache in his temples. The raven sits up, a shaking hand raising to cover his burning eyes, pads of his fingers feeling the drops of panicked fear that he wasn't aware his eyes had released. The man rubs his face and opens his orbitals once more, turning his head to gaze out the window and peer at the gorgeous sphere in the sky that illuminated the cool night and made Ikebukuro look much more magical than it already did. The faint glow of the city lights had already giving it a mystifying shimmer. 

For a moment, Izaya is motionless, his eyes glued to the lights outside that continue to enrapture him, mind momentarily blank as he focuses on his breathing, Izaya trying to slow his erratically beating heart. He raises his hand to his tender stomach to remind himself of what lied beneath the layers of flesh and tissue, what bit at his side and reminded him that he currently needed to be doing a lot more than wasting his time, waiting for everything to pass over. The raven folds his hands in his lap, swallowing as he stared at his fingers, which felt numb and brittle, as if you could break them off. He'd dare not try after a nightmare like that.

A nightmare... That's what this whole situation was. A nightmare that tormented him, plagued him like an illness, though it was terminal it seemed. Sitting here, reveling over dreams and nightmares that prodded his mind and made him think too hard was no form of treatment. It only seemed to aid the slow progression to death. He flexed his fingers, exhaustion weighing his eyelids enough to make him close his eyes entirely, the male laying back down against the sheets that were slightly damp with sweat. 

 _Four weeks_ , he thought. The number was too few. He needed more time and yet, he already had wasted enough. 

Rolling onto his side, Izaya continued to stare at the window, at the moon and it's benevolence, wondering if he could escape this situation and flee there to think, think and regain his ability to fight back. Though, no matter how hard he wished, he remained laying there in that bed that wasn't even his, regretting, despising, wishing he were home and causing trouble like always. 

 _Well_ , He thought again, shutting his eyes and snuggling into a pillow which he held onto for security and comfort, a sigh billowing against the soft pillowcase and filling the quiet room with sound. _I can't wait for this to fix itself anymore..._

With the image of all those people leaving him behind to expire like that prevented him from falling asleep that night. He tossed and turned and wished he could just sleep it all away, but it was never that easy.

_I have a lot of thinking to do..._

 

 

"You have a lot of thinking to do." The man in white said, turning his back to the woman whom he had been speaking with for some time now. His voice had been muffled by that blasted mask he always wore. She wishes she could rip it off. 

"There is no need. I have already calculated possible outcomes and I would not have even considered doing this had I not previously thought about it." She explains, almost mechanically and thickly, like she was some android pre-programmed with responses, no matter what words were thrown at her. 

"Really? You've thought of everything? Now that's surprising, considering people in your field tend to act before they calculate."  
  
"I am aware of the impression my group has left on Nebula and I am unfazed by your lack of faith." 

"Faith now, hmm? Let's talk about that for a moment." The strange man sat down in a rolling chair, a rather large pen, girthy, spinning about between his fingers as he rests his head upon his palm. "There are those who put too much faith in people, those who don't put enough faith in people, those who put too much or not enough faith into God or some other holy being or object that impedes them to really focus on what needs to be done. Does this make sense to you? Because I've honestly forgotten my point already."

She rolls her eyes. "Those who put too much faith in others will get hurt. Those who do not put enough faith in others will also usually meet some sort of similar faith. You are asking if faith is truly necessary." 

"And is it?" He tilts his head and she can almost feel his smile behind that obnoxious mask. 

"If I give an answer, I believe you will place too much faith in it."

"Now, now, dear. It's best to leave faith to people like Job. Or, people who are currently acting like him. Now, how about you play God for a while and restore what faith has been destroyed in our dear Job, hmm?"

"If there is a devil to battle, I will make this divine restoration of faith as heavenly as I can."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** _\- 11:04pm, The Chaos Effect is Reinstated -_ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Job - This is a reference to the Book of Job, a story about a man who is put through impossible tortures in order to test his faith in God. 
> 
> A new reason to think things over, a new character and a new inspiration to write.
> 
> I'll be completely honest; I stopped writing this because I had no idea where it was going and at the time, I had been struck with a mighty depression that I'm only now just trying to cope with. I've got a pretty good plan for this story now and I hated leaving it. Especially when so many of you loved it. Thank you.
> 
>  Tell me if there are mistakes and I will fix them. I wrote this in an hour to be honest, lmao. No OST for this chapter. 
> 
> Expect a new chapter soon. We're back in business, baby.

**Author's Note:**

> And there's the first chapter! Still a little nervous and I hope I didn't mess this up too bad. I'll see you all in chapter two!


End file.
